


Far Away

by HitsugiNerd



Category: The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/M, Fluff, It's the Walking Dead! What do you expect?!, Sad Stuff Abound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-04-18 08:31:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4699217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HitsugiNerd/pseuds/HitsugiNerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica was just a regular woman who, like many others, was thrown into a world of the Undead. Now she is trying to survive while trying to control her feelings for a boy named Nick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a very OC/Nick driven piece. It won't focus too much on the story of the Walking Dead since (hopefully) you all have played the game by now. If not, then spoiler warning. I gave it an M rating for mature themes and well dark themes. It's censored for the sake of censoring because that's how I work. Also, I changed what happens to Nick for the sake of giving him a better fate.

Far Away  
“Hurry up for God’s sake! We don’t got all day you know?” Nick barked at me.  
“Yeah yeah, shut up! I don’t see you carrying the firewood!” I barked back.  
“That’s because I am the one with the rifle!” Nick scoffed.  
We were on our way back to the Cabin from gathering supplies. We have a fireplace, so we always need firewood to keep us warm. We didn’t have electricity, only running water and a limited supply of food.  
“Yeah, well… I’m better on my own.” I said stubbornly.  
“That’s not what I heard Jessica.” Nick said mockingly.  
“Don’t tell me that Luke said I wanted to spend time with you. Because that’s BS.” I said annoyed.  
*******  
My name is Jessica. I am a survivor of the Zombie apocalypse. It hasn’t been easy, and well, I doubt it ever will be again. I have been with two groups of survivors so far… the first group was great. We had our ups and downs. But we all meant well.  
I remembered them all so well… Kenny, Lilly, Lee, Clementine, Duck, Katjaa, Mark, Larry, Doug, Carley, Ben, Christa and Omid… All of them… are in my memories. Not to say all of them are dead… but, well… last time I saw all of them Omid, Christa and Clementine were alive… Lee was a dead man anyway.  
I know you are wondering… “How did you get separated from them?”  
Well… that honestly is because I was looking for someone…  
Kenny… How I still see his face in my mind even today. He was… amazing. He was a man who could survive anything. He was like a cockroach… well not to make him sound dirty, but rather to say that he couldn’t die unless someone squished his head. But he had a thick skull, so I imagine it’d still be impossible. But I digress.  
I looked for him, I looked for him for hours, avoiding every walker I spotted… feverishly running through every ally way, looking through every window, listening beyond my exasperated breaths for his voice. In the end he was gone. I had searched for hours on end… but I couldn’t find him anywhere, and everyone I knew had disappeared… either they were dead, or they found a way out of the city…  
I traveled for months until I found Nick, Pete and Luke. It was a lonely hike… through endless forests. Only surviving on scraps that I found in abandoned, lonely buildings, it was like a dream. One that I couldn’t escape from… some nights I would lie awake and think of the ways I could get out of living in this hell. I have suicidal thoughts that haunt me, or rather… I used to. Since I met Pete, Luke and Nick… they…. Helped me cope. They belong with this large group… a Doctor named Carlos, and his daughter Sarah and Alvin with his wife Rebecca. Along with Luke, Nick, Pete and I, that makes 8 of us. Not exactly a huge number, but it’s enough to get by. They used to belong to this other group before I met them… but they refuse to tell me anything about it. My guess is… that it was something that whatever they faced before was too painful to talk about…  
******  
As I walked with Nick, I noticed he kept eyeing me from the side. I could only see him from the corner of my eye, but I knew he was. I looked at him square in the face and glared at him, “What are you staring at?”  
“I was just… noticin’ you look thinner. Have you not been eatin’ much?” Nick asked.  
I looked down guiltily, trying not to let on that I have been skipping meals… because Rebecca, is actually pregnant, and she needs more food than ever. I can’t keep eating like a horse, when I know she needs it more…  
“I’m fine, Nick. I need to lose a few pounds anyway.” I said jokingly.  
“No, you need to eat. I can’t have you starvin’ yourself and then dying on me!” Nick snapped.  
“Hah, don’t even pretend that you don’t want me thinner.” I said scoffing.  
Just then, Nick dropped his gun and hugged me, making me drop my firewood. “No, don’t speak like that! You’re not gettin’ away with that! Please, I care about you!” Nick said suddenly. My face felt hot, indicating that I was blushing… his warmth was overwhelming… he felt soft, nice… his stubble tickled my neck, but he wasn’t uncomfortable to be around. I had a sort of crush on Nick. I always wanted to be with him. I never wanted him to leave my sight, but I am afraid to tell him… for fear that he might get too close to me and… that I won’t be able to let him go… Like Kenny. Just then he let go of me and looked me dead in the eyes. He had these beautiful, striking blue eyes that just highlighted his long raven black hair. “I won’t let you die. You hear me?” he asked.  
“Y-yes…” I said with a mousey tone.  
We both awkwardly picked up the items that we dropped and kept moving back to the cabin. Nick kept a straight face as he walked ahead. As he walked forward, I watched his profile. He was a handsome man, maybe not celebrity handsome. But someone you could just admire. He had a baby face, long black hair that was held back with a hat, he wore clothes that were just comfortable and simple to sleep in. That seemed to be the ideal attire to wear these days. He was skinny, and in no way muscular. He wasn’t anything extraordinary, he wasn’t a genius, he wasn’t brave… but he was deep. I think that’s what I liked most about him. Was how he was sensitive to things, but also he was a bit of a hot head… getting mad about little things, but always apologizing for it. He was really cute in that regard. He felt like a little kid who was just lost in this mad world.  
The storm clouds loomed over us, it was turning to evening. It was getting to be unsettling. I didn’t like thunder storms, I always got nervous about it… I hated the feeling of dread that storm clouds always brought. Nick looked back at me suddenly. “Hey… you alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah. I’m fine.” I lied. I never liked storms. They always brought me fear and pain.  
Nick gave me a subtle but warm smile, “You don’t have to act around me.”  
“Yeah, I know… but I don’t want to burden the others with my problem.” I said shyly.  
“Hey, none of the others know, okay? You can always talk to me if you’re scared.” He said smiling at me.  
“Thanks Nick.” I smiled back at him.  
We arrived at the Cabin after a while. It was cold and damp by the time we arrived. The rain had already made its way before we even had a chance to get to the door. Nick ran to the door and opened it for me. “C’mon!” he commanded.

I ran inside, with the fire wood struggling to stay balanced in my arms. “I’m coming!” I cried. We shuffled inside and gasped for air as we were soaked from head to toe. Nick laughed, “Well that was fun.” He smiled.  
“Yeah. Racing to get out of the rain. Fun.” I said sarcastically.  
“Aw c’mon, it’s not that bad. We could use the shower.” Nick said teasingly.  
“Speak for yourself. You smell like a barn animal. Speaking of Shower, I think it’s time for my weekly shower.” I said in response.  
“Yeah, me too.” He said looking at his shirt, all the blood stains from the Walkers on it. “Ladies first I suppose.” He said jokingly.  
“You could always join me. Carlos said he wants to conserve the water supply.” I said. Just then I realized what I had just said and felt my face go hot. Oh dear God, why did I say that?  
Nick looked at me shocked, his face going red as well. “Er… n-no. That’s um… perfectly alright! I’ll wait!” He nervously laughed.  
“R-right. Um…” I found myself running upstairs away from the horrible awkwardness that I just put myself into.  
I felt so relieved that I was finally getting to bathe after a week. We all had weekly rotations of when we could bathe. To conserve the water supply, we had to take turns. Nick and I had the same day, it was easier that way. Though we still had to wear our dirty, blood soaked clothes, we still enjoyed the freshness we felt after showering. So we didn’t care if we smelled bad in our clothes, as long as we got to feel fresh after a while, that’s all that mattered to us. I spent about 10 minutes in the shower. Not that we have any shampoo or anything, but the water felt too nice to resist. It was getting colder, and the heat was just too inviting to resist. I felt the warm caress of the water hit my body, it felt so relaxing, and enticing. It was almost a shame I had to leave. I sighed a big breath of relief as I left the shower. The mirror was fogged up, I wiped it away with one hand, staring at the figure before me. I never really felt pretty, I mean, I guess I could pass to someone. I was just kind of different looking. I had a chubby face that looked like it belonged to a kid’s body. I had scarlet red hair that I had to tie back at all times to prevent it from getting caught in something, I had small lips, a button nose and big eyes. My hazel eyes stared back at me as I dried myself off. I was only 25 but I looked 30 from the lack of sleep. I have had insomnia the past few nights… it kills me sometimes… the thoughts in my head always win the battles that I refuse to fight…  
I walked out of the bathroom with my clothes back on, the candles flickered in the house, usually indicating that it is close to bed time. We never really had electricity, but we used Candles to give us light and solace I suppose. Nick looked up from the couch and smiled, “My turn then, I suppose.” He said getting up from his relaxed position. He walked upstairs and walked past me. Before entering the bathroom he played with my wet hair, “You look better now, not as grimy.” He snorted in amusement.  
“Unlike you, get in there before you turn this place into a barn.” I said jokingly.  
Nick smiled back at me, and closed the bathroom door behind him. Everyone else was asleep by now, so I blew out the candles and went up to the bedroom Nick and I shared. We all shared one bedroom per pair. They had 4 bedrooms, and 8 of us, so it just worked out that way. Nick and I both switched turns on who slept on the floor and who slept on the bed. Since it was my turn to sleep in the bed, maybe this time it would be easier for me to sleep. I lay in bed for a long while, and felt my eyes droop. A few minutes later, Nick walked in and silently whispered to me, “I see you’re already in bed… I’ll be down here, so don’t worry.” Nick said softly.  
“I’m not worried…” I said lying on my side away from him. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was scared of the thunder. I was scared that it was going to storm any second. I laid in bed, my head resting on the almost flat pillow, my body struggling to keep warm with the thin blanket. I know that supplies are low, but there are times that I miss having a warm place to lay my head at night. I haven’t really slept well in years… I guess there’s no room to complain about sleep these days. As I was lost in my thoughts, I heard a roaring boom from outside. A flash creeped through the window, and into our room. I felt myself gasp in anticipation. My body responsively curling up into a fetal position. I think Nick heard me, because I heard him softly ask me. “Hey… you alright?”  
I nodded and just kept my body tight against me, “Y-yeah I’m fine! Ju-“ just then another roaring boom pierced my ears. I held my body close to me, feeling tears reach my cheeks as I desperately tried to hold on to what little bravery I had left at that moment. I suddenly felt a body slide in with me in the bed.  
“Hey…” Nick’s voice softly whispered in my ear. “Don’t be afraid… I won’t let anythin’ get to you… I promise.” His hot breath on my neck, it sent shivers down my spine, and smoothly relaxed me.  
Nick put his arms around me and held me close. “You know… you don’t have to face this alone. We’re all here for each other now, more than ever before. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Nick said, his voice softer and much more deeper than I remembered it being. It sounded so sincere and kind. It made me want to just wrap my arms around him and kiss him. But I resisted, because I can’t get too close… even then, it’s nice having a feeling of someone else’s body close to mine. Just the warmth and soft feeling made it feel nice… and calm.  
I turned my body to face Nick, burying my face in his chest, not even caring that his shirt smelled of death, I just wanted to feel him close to me. I wanted to know… what it was like to be alive again… Nick… made me feel alive. Maybe what I felt was infatuation, or rather, love, I didn’t really know. I just wanted to feel him close. After all these months of being alone, I was willing to open up to someone. Maybe Nick was just that someone that I needed…Despite the threatening thunder outside, I drifted to sleep, my body still clinging to his.  
Before I knew it, the sun was rising into the second story window. The piercing light shone in my face, my eyes opened slowly, struggling to stay open by the sun’s gaze. As I awoke, I saw Nick’s face close to mine. At first I was startled, but then I calmed myself… he was still asleep, his breathing calm and soft. I smiled at him. He’s pretty grumpy usually, so it’s nice to see him not always making a scowl… He wore his hat to bed… the goof. I chuckled softly, taking his hat off and putting it on the end table next to the bed. His loose black hair brushed his eye brow. I smiled at him again, pushing the loose strand away from his face. Just then his soft blue eyes opened, I felt my hand retract immediately, he looked at me, and yawned, “What? You gotta starin’ problem?” Nick groaned half asleep.  
“Someone isn’t a morning person.” I teased poking his nose.  
“No, I am not. I would appreciate it if you didn’t poke me constantly.” Nick stretched scratching his head. “Unh? Where’s my hat?” he asked now more awake.  
“Next to you. You shouldn’t sleep with that thing on.” I said in a stern voice.  
“What are you my mother? I always wear this thing.” Nick said putting his hat on his head. “Morning, Afternoon, Night. I am not without it.” He smiled in my direction.  
“Even in the shower?” I asked raising my eyebrows.  
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” He said jokingly.  
I tried to hide my blushing. “No thanks.”  
“That’s not what you said last night.” He grinned at me.  
“Er…” Just then there was a knock at the door.  
“Come in!” I called out.  
Alvin peered his head from behind the door. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you two.” Alvin said sheepishly.  
I realized then that we were still lying in bed together. I felt flustered and was about to say something, but Nick instead interrupted. “Don’t assume. This baby here was too cold last night. So I kept her warm, that’s all.” Nick said nonchalantly.  
“Honestly, it’s none of my business.” Alvin said shaking his head, “But you two are needed downstairs. It’s fishing day.” Alvin said. “Carlos wanted me to get you two up.”  
“Yeah, we’re up Alvin. Is breakfast ready?” I asked stretching.  
“Yeah, Rebecca just got done whipping it together. But we still need some more food.” Alvin said closing the door gently.  
“Whelp, it’s time to do more chores. It’s always us isn’t it?” he said smiling at me.  
“Well we are the youngest in the group, plus Alvin needs to make sure that Rebecca is comfortable.” I said standing up.  
“Yeah… it sure isn’t easy bringing a kid into the world is it?” he said standing up as well, stretching and yawning.  
“Yeah… especially being married these days. I sometimes wish I could marry again. But at the same time, I’m afraid of losing my loved one.” I said sadly.  
“Have you ever fallen in love during this whole thing?” Nick asked suddenly.  
I looked up at him shocked, “H-huh? O-oh, yeah, I have… a couple of times.” I said scratching the back of my neck.  
“Anyone I know?” Nick asked, his eyes pinpointed on me.  
I felt my heart thump in my chest. I didn’t want to admit it to him, so I quickly answered with, “As if I’d tell you.” I picked up my gun and put it in its holster.  
“Is it me?” Nick asked, a cocky smirk spreading across his face.  
I felt myself get even more flustered. “Don’t be stupid, as if I’d fall for a kid like you.” I answered annoyed. God, why did I answer so harshly? I feel like such an idiot.  
“As if I wanted to have someone as stupid as you like me.” Nick snapped.  
I felt a ping in my heart as he said that… was I really that bad? I looked down sadly, and just tried not to look too upset by the whole thing.  
“H-hey… I… uh….” Nick scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry. That came off as harsh.” Nick said softly.  
“Don’t worry about it.” I said coldly, “Let’s just get some fish.”  
Nick shuffled behind me quietly… the rest of the day was pure silence from us. Like we both said something unforgiving… it was hard to even look his way sometimes. Before I knew it, it was sun down. Another storm cloud threatened rain. I looked at Nick, and sighed, “We better get going. The others will want us back now.” I said.  
“Yeah, we didn’t get much today huh?” he said looking at the bucket I was holding.  
“Two fish… looks like we’re gonna have to ration these guys.” I said biting my lip in frustration.  
“I hope Luke and Pete had better luck in hunting.” Nick said looking behind us.  
“Yeah, let’s hope they actually found something.” I said.  
As we arrived closer to the house, we heard what sounded like screaming coming from the house. It sounded like Rebecca shouting. “Crap! C’mon!” Nick shouted running towards the Cabin.  
I followed suit holding the bucket close to my chest. “Great. This is just what we need! Problems!” I said annoyed.  
We both ran as fast as we could muster, when we arrived at the house, the rest of the adults were outside, surrounding something. We ran up to the crowd, catching Luke’s attention.  
“What’s going on Luke?” Nick asked standing next to him in the crowd.  
“A little girl… we found her out in the woods. She claims she got bit by a dog.” Luke said, his thick southern accent breaking through his panic.  
I put the bucket down and approached the rest of the group. “A little girl?” I asked standing next to Nick and Luke. As I looked down at the girl on the ground, I felt my heart stop. Her face… I knew her face… her little curly pigtails, her baseball cap.  
“C-Clementine?!” I said shocked.  
“You know her?” Luke asked.  
“Obviously, if she can recognize her at just a glance.” Alvin responded.  
“Doesn’t mean we can trust her!” Rebecca responded angrily.  
“N-no! We can trust her! She was a part of my first group!” I said defensively.  
“So no problem right?” Luke asked concerned.  
“No, big problem if she’s bit like you said.” Alvin said in a matter of fact kind of way.  
“She said a dog bit her!” Pete said also defending her.  
Just then I saw Clementine’s eyes open. “She’s awake!” I said excitedly bending down to help her up. “You okay sweetheart?” I asked.  
“No! Get away from her!” Nick yelled. Suddenly a loud bang rang out in my ears. A bullet grazed past me and almost hit Clementine. I looked up and noticed it was from Nick’s rifle. My face was pale, I held her close to me and glared at Nick. “What is wrong with you?!” I said, my heart beating as I had just nearly avoided death. “You almost killed us!” I shouted.  
Pete angrily took the gun out of Nick’s hand. “Don’t be stupid boy! Stop with the itchy trigger finger!”  
Nick glared back at him. “Don’t give me that! How can we trust her?!” Nick said. “What if she was infected!”  
“So that’s a reason to shoot me?!” I stood up getting in Nick’s face. “Way to go!”  
That’s when Clementine’s voice spoke up, softly but pleading. “Please, I don’t want to cause you any trouble. Please just let me go!” Clementine begged.  
“No, sweetheart. You don’t have t-“ I was interrupted by Carlos, who pushed his way through the crowd.  
“I’ll determine that…” Carlos said, standing in front of Clementine. “Let me see that bite,” Carlos said commanding.  
Clementine slowly pulled back her left sleeve, her face winced from the obvious pain. She revealed a deep and big bite. It made me turn my head away… poor thing… Carlos examined it and shook his head, “It could be a dog bite… but it could be a Walker bite… it’s too hard to tell right now.” He said coldly.  
“What do we do with her?” Luke asked.  
“We could lock her in the shed… until the morning. If she becomes a Walker, then we’ll know for certain.” Carlos said calmly.  
“We can’t just lock her in the shed! What if her bite gets infected!” I said angrily.  
“ Then we’ll know she wasn’t lying.” Carlos said.  
“That’s twisted!” I said arguing with him.  
“It’s better than risking it!” Carlos said, “You have no say here. You just joined us!”  
I gritted my teeth and glared at him. “Are you sick in the head?!”  
Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t fight it kid… Once he’s made up his mind, there’s no changing his mind.” Pete said calmly.  
Carlos looked at Nick and Luke, “Escort her to the shed.”  
I sighed, looking down sadly, looking at Clementine’s sad eyes as the adults pushed her into an uncomfortable situation. Carlos looked at all of us, “The rest of you… we need to hold a meeting now.”  
I looked back at the shed, they had just closed the door on Clementine… leaving a little girl in there like that… it’s Inhumane. I glared at Nick, who glared back at me. Seriously, what was his problem?! I marched up the stairs to the front door. Carlos and the others made their way into the kitchen and I followed suit. After a while, so did Luke and Nick.  
Pete was the first to start, “So… what do we do with her?”  
“We let her go of course! This is inhumane Carlos! What if that was your daughter in there!” I said angrily.  
“Don’t even start with me on that! Sarah wouldn’t be so careless!” Carlos snapped.  
“Yeah, because he coddle her all the time!” I said angrily.  
“How I handle my daughter is none of your concern!” Carlos glared at me.  
Luke interjected, “Enough! We’re talking about that little girl!”  
“You’re right… we need to consider her though. She’s a human being, who’s scared, and alone! She doesn’t deserve all of this!” I said defensively.  
Nick shook his head, “She doesn’t deserve our concern honestly.”  
“Why not? What if it was you in there, and I was the only one who stuck up for you. How’d you feel then?” I asked.  
“I wouldn’t get stuck in there… I’m smarter than that.” Nick said glaring at me.  
I gritted my teeth and then forcefully pushed him against the wall. “I thought you were a sweet guy! But I guess not! You wanna be a jerk about his whole thing, then fine! But I am not going to sit around while you act like you’re better than everyone!” I released him and walked out of the kitchen. “I’m getting some air…” I said under my breath, walking past everyone.  
I sighed as I stood out in the fresh air. The rain coming down in buckets. It was calming, but I knew that the storm was sure to come sooner than later. Just as I was lost in thought, I heard a scream come from the shed, it was high pitched and shrill. “CLEMENTINE!” I cried shocked. I didn’t have the key so I ran inside and ran into the kitchen, interrupting whatever they were talking about. “Someone give me the key to the shed!” I commanded.  
“Huh? Why?” Luke asked.  
“Because Clementine is in trouble! I just heard her scream! Help me!!” I said.  
“Alright, I got it!” Luke said holding it up. “C’mon! Hurry!” I said running outside suddenly, with all of the others trailing behind me. Luke ran to the door and unlocked it. When he opened it, all of us gasped in shock and surprise. There was Clementine with the end of a hammer jammed into a Walker’s head. She then turned to us and said, “I’m. Still. Not. Bitten! I never was! And you left me out here to die!”  
Luke then looked at her, “You patched yourself up?”  
“Where did you get that stuff?” Nick asked offended.  
“Did she steal from us?” Rebecca asked.  
“I did…” Clementine squeaked out, “I’m sorry, I never should have stolen from you. But I needed it to survive!” Clementine confessed.  
“Leave this girl alone! If any of you were half as gutsy as this little girl, you’d have done the same thing.” Pete defended Clementine when everyone scoffed.  
Carlos sighed, “Fine, take her in, I’ll see what I can do with that wound.” He said softly.  
I smiled at Clementine, “Looks like Lee taught you well.”  
“Christa and Omid helped.” Clementine smiled back at me.  
“Speaking of them, where are they?” I asked.  
Immediately, Clementine’s face dropped, “Omid is dead… Christa… is… I dunno.” She said softly.  
“Oh…” I whispered. “I’m sorry.” I said sadly.  
Luke, Clementine and I followed the others inside the house.  
I walked up to the house, and followed her to the kitchen. There was Carlos, with bandages and stitches. He was able to heal her up within minutes. I watched Luke and Nick who was sitting there with us.  
After she was stitched up she sat down at the table, where Luke offered her food. I stood in the corner, as Nick approached her.  
“Hey… I want to apologize… for being so agro like that. I… was just scared.” Nick said scratching the back of his neck.  
Clementine looked at him, her face softening for him, “I understand… you were just looking out for your friends.” She said sadly.  
I smiled at her and Nick, I was finally glad that they could mend their relationship. Nick then sat next to her, as Luke explained. “Nick lost his mother to a survivor who was bit… they turned and… bit her. Nick was the one who had to pull the trigger.” Luke said softly.  
I looked at Nick who looked sadden by this. “You guys never told me…” I said biting my lip.  
“We didn’t want to upset you. We knew that you lost so many people. “ Nick said sadly.  
“Please… I want to know what’s wrong with you…” I said to Nick. “I want to help you…”  
“Ah, get a room you two.” Luke said teasingly.  
“We do. Not that it’s any of your concern.” He said jokingly as he got up from his seat and walked out of the kitchen.  
“Shall we Nick?” I asked leaving with him.  
Nick and I went straight to bed… tonight was Nick’s turn to sleep on the bed. It was my turn to sleep on the floor. I lied on the floor, cold and scared. I really hated the thunder storms. As the thunder roared through, I held my body close to me, I could hear Nick shuffle in the bed. He sighed and softly said, “If you want… you could sleep up here with me.” He said softly to me. I looked at him gladly accepted his offer. He held the blanket up and as I laid next to him he chuckled, “You’re so pathetic.” He said rubbing the back of his head.  
“I’m only doing this because you are warm.” I said defiantly.  
“Sure. Whatever you say.” He yawned.  
We laid together, Nick’s arm wrapped around me, my body clinging to his. I listened to his heartbeat… almost asleep before he said, “Hey… do you forgive me?” he asked.  
“What?” I asked confused.  
“I mean… I’m sorry for how I acted today… I was scared.” He said. I studied his profile, staring up at the ceiling softly. “I’m known to fly off the handle like that… and well… I’m sorry.” He said looking at me now.  
I smiled at him, “I forgive you Nick…” I laid my head back down on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.  
Nick finally said, “Don’t make this an every night thing… unless…” he paused, “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…” he said slowly.  
“Maybe…” I said, my voice drifting as his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Faraway 2:  
Nick, Pete and Clementine got up early the next morning to go fishing again. I guess everyone wasn’t happy by the lack of food. Nick had gotten out of bed, and was getting his rifle ready when I woke up.  
“Mmn… Nick?” I yawned.  
“Ah, sorry to wake you, I actually struggled climbing over you this morning.” He scratched the back of his head.   
“Why are you up so early? The sun isn’t even up yet…” I said rubbing my eyes.  
“Pete came in and said that Carlos wanted us to get some more food. Clementine is going with us. I guess Carlos thought that she could make herself useful.” He responded.  
“Do you have to go?” I asked, my voice cracking from the lonely feeling I had.  
“Why? You miss my warm body next to yours?” he asked smirking at me.  
“N-no… I just…” I turned my face away, “I just want… to make sure that you aren’t going to get hurt.” I said sadly.  
Nick sat down on the bed and gave me a reassuring look. “Hey, don’t sweat it, Uncle Pete has my back. So don’t worry about me, alright? I’ll come back and we can play chess if you want.” Nick patted my head. “So hang in there okay? We’ve been separated before. I’ve always come out unscathed.” He gave me a warm smile and held my chin up to face him. “I’m too tough to go down without a fight. I’ll be back by tonight so that we can snuggle up together. “ he snorted in amusement.  
I smiled back at him, “As long as you come back, I don’t care. Just… make it back okay?” I said softly.  
“You bet.” Nick said standing up. “I’ll see you tonight.” He opened the door and walked out of the room. I laid back down in bed and slept for a little while longer.   
I spent all day that day just playing Chess with Sarah, reading and pretty much just keeping myself busy. The looming fear in the back of my head told me not to worry, but I was scared… scared that Nick wasn’t going to come back. Before too long, night fall came.   
I found myself pacing back and forth on the front porch, looking for any sign of Nick, Clementine, or Pete. I bit my lip desperately, trying to fight back the need to cry.   
Luke stepped outside, “Hey! Stop pacing like that! You’re gonna attract Walkers!” Luke said in a hushed voice.  
“I-I’m sorry… I just… Haven’t seen Nick since this morning…” I said my eyes feeling heavy.  
“Hey, maybe they just got caught up. Knowing them they found shelter elsewhere.” Luke said, trying to reassure me.  
“But… “ I bit my lip nervously.  
“Hey, I know you really care about all of them. Heck, you almost killed us for Clementine.” He chuckled, “But I know that little girl is tough. Don’t fret, alright Jess?” he said softly.  
“Yeah… I just… want to look for them. If they don’t show up in an hour I’m gonna look for them!” I said confidently.  
“Hey now! If you do that, that’s gonna put you in even more danger! What if you go out there, and you died? Nick would never forgive me!” Luke said his eyes shooting darts at me.  
“I know… I know. But… I…” I bit my lips, suddenly coming to the realization that glared me in the face. I knew that I was hiding from this fact for months now. I had to say what needed to be said. “I… love Nick!” I said finally. “I’m in love with him okay? I’m scare of losing him!” I had to restrain myself from shouting it.  
“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious…” Luke let loose a slight chuckle. “You always get flustered when he’s around or anyone mentions him.”  
“I just… really care about him. But I’m scared Luke… I’m scared of losing him.” I tried not to show the pain. I fell in love once, and that was with Kenny… even if he was twice my age, I fell in love with his spirit. Kenny unfortunately sacrificed himself… for someone else. Falling in love with Nick was unexpected and just… strange. I just didn’t want to lose him. I would do anything to keep him alive.  
“I can’t lose him Luke… I just can’t.” I said quickly wiping away the tears that had been building up for hours.  
“I know… I know. Hey, why don’t you get some sleep? You really need it.” He patted my head softly.  
“I don’t know. Maybe I will…” I finally gave in and retired upstairs. I shuffled my feet to the bedroom, closing the door behind me, feeling my body slide down the door. I buried my face in my hands, quietly sobbing to myself as I ran the worst case scenarios in my head. The haunting thoughts plagued me, I never really even closed my eyes, and I refused to lay in the bed Nick and I shared for the past two nights. My emotions refused to leave my mind, the thought of Nick being out there lost, with Clementine, I didn’t want to lose anyone so soon. I didn’t want to lose someone who I had just begun to trust… one who has always been there for me… The only sound in the room was the sound of the clocks ticking, the sound of soft sleepers galloping in their dreams, their light thoughts made me envious. It was hard to breathe; it was hard to understand why God had chose to forsake me. Before I knew it, the sun was up. I stood up and decided to go outside, the tears I wanted to cry being pushed back. I walked out of the room and downstairs. I heard Carlos’ voice behind me as I was halfway down the stairs, “Jessica, have you seen Nick, Clementine or Pete at all?” he asked.  
I turned to him, and shook my head, “No, not since yesterday morning.” I answered honestly.  
“Just what I have feared… it seems that we are going to have to get a search party together.” Carlos said calmly.  
“Can I come along Carlos? I really want to search for them all.” I said my voice shaking from the obvious excitement.  
“No, you need to stay here with Me and Rebecca.” Carlos said. “In Case the others come back, we’re going to need all the help we can get, just in case one of them is injured.” Carlos folded his arms.  
“Don’t speak like that!” I snapped.  
Carlos gave me a cautious glare, “I’m only being realistic, and you need to realize that before you decide to snap at me.”   
My head dropped and stared at the floor, “I’m sorry… I just. I’m worried about them all.” I said biting down on my thumb.  
“We all are… but you need to approach this with a calm head, sometimes you have to be pessimistic to understand the risks involved.” He said in a soft but soothing tone.  
“You’re right…” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”   
“It’s fine. Now, go ahead and join Rebecca in the kitchen. She just made breakfast. The others will be leaving soon.” Carlos said trying to give me a reassuring smile.  
“Thanks Carlos… what about Sarah though?” I asked.  
“Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine. She just needs to not think about these kinds of things.” Carlos whispered, his eyes darting to the upstairs bedroom door.  
“You will have to tell her one day you know. One day, something bad will happen… she needs to know what to do.” I said.  
“I know that…” Carlos paused, “But I can’t expose her right now. She needs to retain what little innocence she has left.”   
“Yeah… I understand…” I walked to the kitchen and sat with Rebecca and Carlos.  
Rebecca smiled at me, “How you holdn’ up hon?” she asked.  
“I’m scared, honestly…” I whispered.  
“I know sweetie. Everything will be fine. Don’t give up okay?” she said softly.  
Just then, Luke and Alvin came in. Luke looked at me, “Hey, we’ll look for them, alright? I promise we’ll bring them back safe.” He smiled at me kindly.  
“Thanks Luke…” I said softly, keeping my head down.  
Alvin pat my back, “We’ll bring back Nick to you.”   
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.  
“Well, it’s obvious how you feel for him. Pretty painfully obvious in fact.” Alvin said chuckling.  
“Let’s be honest, you aren’t exactly subtle with your feelings. You always follow him around, you always volunteer to help him.” Luke said.  
“Oh…” I said looking down, avoiding their eye site.   
“Don’t worry, alright? We’ll bring them back to you.” Luke said. He then led Alvin outside of the house.  
The rest of us just sat at the table… a silence washing over us. We didn’t really do much, we just… waited. I found myself reading a book to pass the time, but I didn’t even pay attention to the words, rather all of my fears just circulated in my head. I felt so hopeless and empty. I didn’t know what to do.  
Just then someone burst through the kitchen door. It was Clementine!  
“Clementine!!” I cried excitedly.   
Carlos stood up, “Where’s everyone else?” he asked.  
“Alvin isn’t with you?” Rebecca asked shocked.  
Clementine caught her breath, “No I didn’t see them!”  
Rebecca then cursed and shook her head, “They just insisted on finding you!”  
Carlos looked Clementine in the eyes. “What happened to the others?” he asked.  
“Pete is dead… and Nick told me to go. I left him at a shed.” She said hurrying.   
“Oh Christ…” I said shocked. I immediately ran upstairs and grabbed my gun. I had a chance to save him… he was alive. He had to be! I rushed back downstairs feverishly trying to hurry out the door. I ran back to the kitchen. As I entered, I noticed Rebecca and Carlos were gone. “Where did they go?” I asked.  
“They searched for Luke and Alvin!” she cried.  
“Look, I’m gonna look for Nick. You stay here, don’t open the doors for anyone unless you KNOW for sure who it is. Got it?” I asked.  
Clementine nodded, “I know… I’ll take care of everything!” she said confidently.  
“You’re tough as nails Clem, you can handle anything thrown your way.” I said patting her head. “Good luck kid. I’m gonna watch after Nick.” With that, I ran outside, running as fast as I could muster. Looking for any building that was in the area. The forest was vast, and full of different things that probably were empty. It was gonna either be a short search, or a long one depending on how many walkers try to stop me.   
I ran for what felt like hours, the sweat pouring down my face. But I never stopped running, not even for a second. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I knew it was a risk, but I had to find him… I had to know he was okay. I checked every empty place I could find, even searched empty trucks, but no luck. I would say that I wanted to give up, but I knew that wasn’t an option. Not right now, not how this is now. I ran further and further, covering my tracks, until a came across what looked like a shed, walkers invading the whole area. I saw a walker in front of the door. I stabbed it’s head with my knife, and pushed it aside. I banged on the door with all my might. “Nick? Nick are you in there?” I called out.   
I heard silence at first… but then… a soft but slow groan came from behind the door. “Nick?” I called again. Aware that the walkers were alarmed by my presence. Just as I was about to give up hope. I heard a voice call out, “Jessica…?”   
It was his voice… it was Nick’s voice! My face lit up, my eyes began to water. “Yeah! It’s me! Please, let me in!”   
Nick responded behind the door, “Hang on.” I heard a loud sound, like something being moved, and then for a brief second, I heard the door open, my body tingling with anticipation. As soon as he opened the door and as soon as I saw those big bright blue eyes, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. Burying my face in his neck, “Oh thank God…” I cried.  
He held me tight against his body, “I’m glad to see you. Where are the others?” he asked.  
“I-“ I almost explained, but then Nick pushed me to the side and rushed to the door, slamming it close, the Walker’s grunts and gurgles building up from outside, “Move that crate of apples! I guess we’re gonna hide out here right now!” Nick said in an amused snort.   
“S-sorry…” I said guiltily.  
“Don’t worry about it. Just get it.” He nodded to the crate. I quickly moved towards the crate and pushed it against the door. The Walker’s banging and groans on the door were growing louder and louder. I sighed, gasping for breath. “Geez, I guess I woke up a lot of them… Jesus, I wasn’t thinking.” I scratched my head.   
“Don’t sweat it…” he said poking my nose, “I’m just glad you’re here…” he smiled at me, making my heart skip a beat.   
“I am too…” I finally was able to catch my breath.  
“Where’s the others?” he asked.  
“They went out looking for you guys. Clementine came back, Alvin and Luke went looking for you before she came back though. Carlos and Rebecca are looking for them now. I’m the only one out here right now. I mean… the only one who knew where you were… um… sort of.” I said chuckling. “Well… rather… Clementine knows how to find you. I just kind of panicked and… ran out looking for you.” I said finally sitting down on a nearby crate. “I guess I didn’t think that one through.” I admitted.  
“Yeah, I don’t think you did.” He smiled at me in an amused way.  
“I’m sorry.” I said apologetically.  
“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re safe for now… as long as we lay low and stay quiet, we’ll be alright.” He smiled at me.  
“Hey… I uh… heard about your Uncle…” I said looking down at the ground.  
“Yeah… I uh…” he sighed, sitting down on the crate next to me. “I couldn’t save him…. Jessica… Clementine… just scrambled to me when Pete was in trouble.” He laid his head in his hand and bit back his tears. “I…. could have saved him but I begged them to save me. He died because I was too weak to help. The last things I said to him were harsh and… mean. I said some pretty crappy things. But… I took him for granted; I didn’t really put it in my head that it would be the last time I saw him alive… God…” Nick finished, his voice was strained, and his body was shaking. My first instinct was to hold him in my arms. “It’s alright Nick… shh….” I whispered. “Your Uncle loved you… he thought the world of you…”   
Nick remained silent, and just held me close to him, his breath in sync with mine. His warm body was hard to resist, but I had to restrain myself from doing something stupid. My heart was pounding out of my chest. We’re in a shed alone… with the others so far away… anything could happen. Oh God, anything could happen. I let go of Nick, and just tried to avoid eye contact with him.   
“Thanks…” he said suddenly.  
“Anytime Nick…” I said awkwardly staring at the floor.  
Just then, I felt Nick turned my face towards him with his hand. He gently held my chin up with his fingers. His eyes stared into mine, his lips smiled at me, not a happy smile but a… melancholy one. His eyes stunned me, I couldn’t move, I felt my body go numb, tingling from the tense and overwhelming feeling I felt. He leaned in, his face coming towards mine. Oh God! Oh God!! He’s going to kiss me! What do I do?! As I was panicking in my head, I felt my body lose its balance, as I fell off the crate, a sharp pain shooting arrows into my hand as I landed on the floor.   
“Ah!! Jesus!” I cried, immediately searching my hand. It was bleeding pretty badly, great, just what I needed.   
“Oh Christ, are you alright?” Nick asked kneeling next to me. “Here, let me see.” He said grabbing my hand. “Jesus, that’s a cut… must be from the broken glass.”   
“Broken glass?” I asked.  
“Yeah… I got drunk earlier and… well… I started breaking these jars of whiskey against the wall… I’m sorry, it’s my fault you got hurt.” Nick said, his eyes begging me for forgiveness.  
“No, it’s alright… please… just help me clean it.” I said standing up.  
“I don’t know if there is anything to clean it with.” He looked around the room, “Hang on, I’ll look.”   
I sat back down on the crate, and remained silent. Nick also remained silent, possibly reflecting on what just happened seconds before injuring myself. I was lost, I didn’t know what to think, or how to feel. I just felt like succumbing to him now. But at the same time, I didn’t want to risk his emotional state as it is. I didn’t want to take advantage of him knowing what just happened… he lost his only family member left after all… God, why is it so conflicting? I know that there are no risks in doing so now considering the circumstances, but even then… it’s his emotional state I am worried about. I don’t want to press him into anything so intense and overwhelming. Just as I was lost in thought, Nick turned to me, with a white box in hand, “Found a first aid kit. There has to be something in here.” He said opening up the box.  
“Hm… not much. Bandages mostly, but it can do until Carlos comes.” He said walking over to me with the first aid kit. He sat down next to me on the crate and bandaged my hand ever so gently, creating the perfect bandage job.   
“Hey, not bad.” I said smiling up at him.  
“Yeah, I may not be great at shooting, but I can at least treat wounds. Good to know I have some uses.” Nick smirked.  
“Of course you’re useful. You’re alive aren’t you?” I said.  
“Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it.” Nick said. “I sometimes think everyone would be better off if I wasn’t around.” He said sighing to himself.  
“No… that’s not true. Everyone loves you. Everyone is your family there, they all need you!” I said putting my hands on his knees.  
“Do you need me?” he asked now looking at me.  
“Of course I do… I need you more than anyone.” I looked into his beautiful eyes again, “I need you Nick…”  
Nick cupped my face in both of his hands, “I need you too…” he then leaned in and whispered, “I lo-“  
Just then there was a knock at the door.   
“What was that?” I asked.  
“Probably a Walker…” Nick said nonchalantly, “Ignore it…” he leaned in again, his lips brushing mine so gently. I could almost kiss him, I could almost taste his lips on mine. That’s when I wrapped my arms around his neck and forced my lips to meet his. My heart was overloading with joy, my body just let go as I desperately tried to get every last bit of his breath. Nick wrapped his arms around my waist and was suddenly on top of me on the crate. Our bodies melding together, my mind a complete blank, our hearts beating as one. It was… the best kiss of my life. Oh God, what am I doing?! I suddenly pushed him off and gasped to grab my breath.   
“W-what did we just do?” I asked shocked.  
“We… kissed….” Nick said sounding just as shocked as me.  
That’s when we both heard a knock on the door again. “Nick…? Jessica…?” we heard the familiar thick southern accent say.  
“Luke?” Nick called out.  
“Yeah, it’s me. C’mon out. It’s time to go.” Luke answered.  
Nick and I exchanged looks, our tension even thicker than before. I wanted more but at the same time I knew that our moment was over.  
I pushed the crate aside and opened the door. There was Luke who responded with a hug to both of us. He then paused and looked at us. “Hey, why are you both out of breath… your faces are red too.” He said his face implying he already knew or at least he thought he knew.  
“None of your business.” Nick said coldly walking past Luke.  
“What was that about?” Luke asked.  
“Nothing… let’s just keep moving, alright?” I said.  
“Good, cause we’re leaving for good.” Luke said.  
“What? Why?” Nick asked turning back to Luke.  
“Because Carver found our cabin… it’s only a matter of time before he finds us again.” Luke responded.  
“Carver…? Whose Carver…?” my question seemed to have rang out and echoed through the pines. The answer to my question possibly floating among the pines as well….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you say anything. Yes, they do move fast... but as you will learn later on that they do have history together. Either way, I hope you enjoyed! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Far Away 3:  
“William Carver… is a bad man, that’s who he is,” Carlos interrupted me.   
Our group had now been combined, and we all were travelling on foot towards wherever we were going. I had no idea. I just went with them.  
“So, he’s bad news is he?” I asked.  
“Yes, he’s the man we’re running from…” Luke responded.  
“Why are you running?” Clementine asked.  
“Because he wanted to control our lives. That’s all. We all wanted to leave because we feared for our lives.” Carlos answered.  
“Is he going to hurt us dad?” Sarah piped up, her mousey voice echoing through the pines.  
“No sweetheart, as long as we keep moving, we’ll be alright.” Carlos reassured her.  
“Where are we going Luke?” I asked.  
“The Mountains… we got maybe 4 or 5 days till we get to them.” Luke responded.  
“Oh, well… that’s not so bad I guess.” I said trying to sound chipper.  
Nick suddenly walked forward, towards Clementine. “Hey Clementine… thanks for not giving up on me.”   
Clementine smiled and nodded, “I’m sorry about Pete…” she said sadly.  
“Yeah… thanks.” Nick said sadly, falling back behind Rebecca and Alvin. I found myself falling back too.  
I walked by him, side by side. I could feel the awkwardness between us, the painful need to say something, but at the same time wanting to hide. I could hear everyone else talking, but it was just us who was silent.  
Finally, Nick spoke, “About what happened back at the shed…” he rubbed the back of his neck.  
“Yeah?” I responded.  
“I um… I’m sorry, that was too fast wasn’t it?” he asked.  
“Yeah… it kind of was…” I said smiling at him sympathetically.  
“Not that I didn’t like it… it was… fantastic.” He smiled too, blushing.  
“Yeah… it was. But… I think we need to take this slow, Nick… You are emotional now, you need to…” I sighed and let out an exasperated breath, “I need you to be normal. I need you to be ready, not just when your emotions are high. I want to see where this goes… but right now we don’t need this constant need to um…” I started blushing. 

“Knockin’ the boots?” Nick smiled at me amused.  
“Is that what you farm boys call it?” I asked chuckling.  
“Yeah, it’s much cleaner than saying that you mean… I used to say it a lot when I was younger. Thinking my mom didn’t know what I meant, but she knew… heh… that’s why I couldn’t get any girls around.”  
“You’re…?”   
“Yeah. Well no need to make a big deal about it. Besides, that’s not what I’m interested in you for. It’s much more than that… but… what are we anyway?” Nick finally asked.  
“I don’t know… mutually interested individuals?” I said shrugging.  
“That’s a fancy way of putting it.” Nick laughed, “I like it.”   
“Look, I really care about you Nick… I think it would be best that we keep things normal, not… sensual. Not until you know for sure you are ready. Got it?” I asked.  
“Yeah… yeah. You’re right… I’m sorry.” Nick sighed, “I do want… something out of all of this.”  
“Me too… but we can’t rush it Nick… not like this.” I said.  
“Yeah… Yeah, I agree.” Nick smiled at me, “Thanks for talking to me.” He said. “Oh, and Um… do you still want to sleep together…? I –I mean… um…” he started to blush, “Not like… um…”   
“I know what you mean Nick… I’ll gladly sleep with you. After all, you keep me warm at night.” I said softly.  
“G-good… um… that’s good.” He smiled at me.  
I giggled walking along side him, the whole group became quiet again, I suppose it was the fact that we just had to absorb all that has happened so far. As I walked, I felt Nick grab my hand and just hold it as we walked. I looked up at him shocked, my face warm from the embarrassment. Nick turned to me, and didn’t even speak a word, just smiled and kept walking, with me following beside him step by step.  
The empty footsteps that carried over into the woods lasted until sun down. Our legs tired, our stomachs empty and our bodies weak. We all just wanted to find some place to set up camp, somewhere safe... for hours nothing but trees, empty homes and souless bodies wandering in a never ending purgatory.   
Finally Carlos spoke up, “There looks to be a house up ahead. It’s small… but it will work for the night.”   
“What’s the shape of it?” Luke asked.  
Clementine took out her binoculars and examined the house. “It looks empty enough… just boarded up.” She said looking at Luke.  
“Alright, looks like it’ll have to do. Nick, Jessica… help me get these boards down from the house.” Luke commanded.  
“Yeah, we’re on it.” Nick said sheepishly, his Uncle’s death obviously still effecting him.   
I followed behind Luke and Nick to the house. It was a 2 story house, but it probably only had two or three rooms. So one of us would have to probably sleep elsewhere. We took the nails out of the boards on the front door, putting the board to the side.   
“Alright, keep an eye out, alright?” Luke said nodding to us.  
“We know how to survive Luke. You don’t have to tell us what to do.” Nick snapped, carrying his rifle and walking into the house. “See, there’s no lurkers here… it’s empty. C’mon.”   
Luke looked at me concerned and sighed, signaling the others outside to come in. “Nick sure is temperamental lately.”   
“Take it easy on him alright? Nick’s not as easy to move on as you… he’s sensitive… some of us need more time than a day Luke…” I said glaring at him.  
“Yeah… sorry… I just…” Luke sighed, “I just need time to think about this whole thing.”   
“Don’t we all…” I said in a hushed voice. “I’ll check out the place.” I said calmly.  
“Yeah, you do that. I’ll get the others in here.” Luke responded.  
I walked around the house, it was a small house, about two story, the rooms were dusty from the lack of people living there… my guess is people boarded up the place thinking they’d be back… but apparently they never made it back. I looked up at the ceiling in the living room… there was a skyline, that had a perfect view of the stars.   
“Well one advantage of the lack of people around is the stars are more visible…” I mumbled.  
“That’s kind of a depressing way to look at it.” Nick said next to me.   
I jumped startled. “Ah! You frightened me!” I said.  
“Sorry… I just got down from the upstairs.” Nick said.  
“So, what’s the verdict?” I asked.  
“It’s livable. Though a couple of us are going to have to sleep downstairs.” He said sighing.  
“Well there’s a couch, maybe it folds out.” I said reaching for under the couch, but as I pulled my hand winced in pain. My mouth made a hissing sound. “Sssst! Ow!” I cried.  
“Hey! Be careful!” he held my injured hand carefully. “You’re so reckless.”   
“Speak for yourself… “ I muttered.  
“You’re gonna make me worry you know…” Nick said staring me in the eyes.  
“You already do that just fine for me… I wish you’d stop sometimes.” I said sighing. “If you died… I doubt I could move on.” I said, my eyes pleading him.  
“You could make it… you’ve done it before right?” Nick asked.  
“Yeah… but… this is different…” I said pulling on the couch again, this time when I did an attachment inched itself out. “Ah! Jackpot!” I pulled again, with Nick continuing.

“Different how?” he asked.  
“Because the feeling is mutual, Nick.” I pulled again and the bed sprung out, with me falling from the sudden spring.   
“Ah… I’m just getting hurt all over…” I complained.  
Nick chuckled, “You’re fine…” he helped me up and smiled at the now sofa bed. “It’s bigger then the bed back at the Cabin…”  
“You’re not saying…” I looked at Nick, his eyes teasing me.  
“Let’s sleep down here. Why not. It’s big enough for both of us… plus…” he pointed at the skyline. “We can enjoy the stars… fall asleep to that…” he smiled at me.  
“My Nick, you certainly are a romantic.” I said giggling.  
“I guess that’s one perk of being sensitive.” Nick said.  
“Oh! Good, this place looks empty!” Alvin cheered.  
“Let’s not get too comfortable yet… Where are we staying?” Rebecca asked.  
“You guys can sleep upstairs, we can take the downstairs.” Nick responded.  
“Are you’re sure about that? If a Walker gets i-“ Luke tried to get out, but Nick interrupted. “It’s fine Luke. We’ll block the front entrance with one of the furniture. Let’s just rest alright? We all had a long day….”   
“Alright then….” Luke answered him, his voice sounding defeated.   
Everyone shuffled upstairs, leaving me and Nick downstairs. We both moved the sheets back and laid down in the bed, our bodies close together. “Still pretty small huh?” Nick said, laughing.  
“Yeah. But still better than at the Cabin…” I looked up at the ceiling at the Skyline. The stars made me feel even smaller than I have ever felt before. There was a slow and calming silence between Nick and I.  
“It’s hard… when you realize just how small you are in comparison to the stars.” Nick suddenly said.  
“Yeah… especially now. When there’s so little alive anymore… it’s hard to think about what will happen to us… our lives. What if… things never go back to the way they were?” I asked, looking at Nick.  
“Then I guess we make the best of it…” Nick sighed.  
“What about you…? You… were suicidal.” I said sadly.  
“Yeah… I was… when I thought I had no one left who cared about me… but you and Clementine reminded me what it’s like to have someone who cared.” Nick stared at the ceiling.  
“I know...” I said softly, intertwining his hand with mine.  
Nick and I were silent for a while, which made me move closer to him, and lay my head on his chest, hoping that his heartbeat would lull me to sleep. Just then he spoke… his deep and smooth voice breaking the silence, “If I turn… you have to kill me… do you understand?” he then looked at me, my eyes stared into his for the longest time. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What?”   
“I want you to kill me…” he said.  
“No! I heard what you said, but… I refuse! I refuse to put you in the grave!” I said defensively.  
“I don’t plan on dying right now…” Nick said propping his arm up on one side. “I just meant… that if it comes to that I want you to be the one who pulls the trigger…” Nick said his eyes focused on me.  
“I don’t know… if I can…” I said softly. “I don’t want to… I don’t want to take your life… Nick. Even if you are reanimated…” I felt my tears coming down my cheeks.“Please, don’t make me…” I pleaded, covering my eyes up with my hands. “I just can’t…”   
Nick then held me close to him and kissed my forehead, “Hey… I’m sorry… I… just wanted you to be the one since… I…” he then looked me in the eyes. “I lo-“ he bit his lip. “It’s too soon for me to say.” He then smiled at me, “Because I care for you, Jessica.”   
“I… care for you too, Nick.” I smiled at him, “Please… let’s not talk about this right now. Let’s just enjoy what little peace we have right now…” I laid my head on his chest again, listening to his heartbeat. I always felt safe in his arms. As I listened to his heart beat… I could feel myself lulling to sleep, my eyes getting heavy, and my breathing getting slower… I could hear Nick say one last thing… but I was asleep when he said it, but … I think he said “I love you…” I might have dreamed about it though.  
The light awoke us from the skyline. The clouds were clear and the world felt new. I stretched allowing my body to feel that refreshing feeling of moving after a long time being stationary. Nick stretched too and looked at me, “Hey, good morning sunshine.” He smirked.  
“Mornin’ handsome.” I grinned at him.  
Nick poked my forehead, “You know… you snore really loudly.”   
“And you drool so much that you could fill up the Nile.” I grinned grabbing the brim of his hat and shaking his head back and forth.   
“Whatever you say, admit it, you like my warm masculine body against yours.” He chuckled.  
“You’re just convenient is all. Don’t get too cocky mister.” I teased.  
“You’re the cocky one.” Nick smirked.  
Something had been plaguing me since last night, it was how Nick treated Luke, I thought he was best friends with him. But… he acted like he didn’t want anything to do with him…  
“Nick?” I asked.  
“Yeah… what is it?” he sat up in bed.  
I sat up in bed too, wrapping my arms around my knees, “Why have you been so hostile towards Luke lately?” I finally asked.  
“Oh… I dunno. I guess I am just subconsciously taking out my aggression on him… I don’t mean it… My aggression I mean.” He sighed looking at the ceiling. “I don’t hate Luke… far from it in fact… I just feel so pressured by him all the time.”   
“How so?” I asked.  
“He… wanted me to go into business with him. But, I refused to even go… he kept pushing me and pushing me. He never asked what I wanted, he just… told me to do it. I’m just a farm boy, it’s not like I know anything about business. I’m better with manual labor… anyway, he always pushed me, never allowing me to say what I wanted, or express my concerns… So we spent 6 months working together, and we were flat broke… but I didn’t care, we were having fun.” He chuckled. “I’m envious of him… he can move on, never having to worry about getting emotional. I’m not built like that…” Nick said slowly.  
“I know… not everyone is…” I sighed. “I know I act tough… but I’m honestly broken. All of the people I cared for years ago… gone. Just… gone.” I buried my face in my knees, just hiding what I felt inside.  
“Hey… don’t cry…” Nick wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly against his chest. “I’m here for you… I always will be.”   
“Thanks Nick…” I smiled at him.  
“Of course.” He smiled back at me. “So I have to ask… what did you do before the Apocalypse happened?”   
“Oh… you don’t want to hear what I did. It’s pretty boring.” I giggled.  
“No, I really do wanna hear what you did.” Nick said his voice smooth and calm.  
“Really?” I asked, my eyes looking up at him softly.  
“Yeah… I wanna know more about you. Is that okay?” He asked.  
“Yeah… perfectly fine.” I sat in thought for a second, thinking of where I should start, so I just started somewhere simple. “I grew up around Tennessee… I remember it well… going to the pools on the hot summer days, staying inside sometimes and just watching tv, maybe playing video games… you know, kids stuff. I knew I always wanted to leave though… I never really wanted to stay there. Despite my fond memories… I had a rough childhood. Mostly because my father left and my mother was the only one who raised me… I moved to Atlanta a few years ago, to begin my writing career. I always wanted to be a writer you know.”   
“What did you want to write?” Nick asked.  
“I don’t know. Romance stuff, real life kind of things you know, things people could relate to. I was far away from my family, and haven’t really seen them in over 4 years now. I don’t even know if they are alive anymore… I highly doubt it though… So here I was, alone in the middle of all this. What did I do? I drove out of the city, into the country… there, I found the Green farm, and Kenny, Lee and Clementine… just as all of us thought it was safe, we were attacked. We had to leave… we left there and traveled to Macon, there, we met the other survivors that traveled with us. Really, I don’t need to explain what happened…” I looked down at my feet that were now poking out from the sheets. “One by one, they all dropped like flies. Some bitten, some shot, some just… abandoned. We picked up a few others but, we just kept moving to Savannah, thinking we’d find salvation, some way out of there. But in the end it was all useless. In the end, only a few of us made it out, and as far as I can tell right now… Clementine and I are the only ones who made it out of there alive.”   
“Jesus…” Nick muttered. “How many was there?”   
“Over 15 or 16 I guess. I don’t know, I lost count of how many there were… I just… remember their deaths. So many gone… it’s hard to swallow that fact…” I sighed, my eyes focused on the ground this time.  
“Hey, that won’t happen to me, alright? I’m gonna stick around as long as I can… I promise. We’ll ride this apocalypse together. Just you and me.” He smiled kissing my head.   
“Thanks Nick…” I smiled warmly at him.  
“No problem… hey, thanks for telling me your story. I know that was hard for you.” He put his arm around me, “So, you think we’ll be alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah… we’ll be alright. Let’s just stick together alright?” I said smiling up at him.  
“Yeah… let’s.” Nick responded.  
Just then, Luke came from upstairs. “Hey there, you two. I need help scrounging this place for supplies. Find anything you can alright?” he asked.“We’re not staying here… so if you guys can find a tent or something, that’d be great. “ Luke nodded to us.  
“Sure, we’ll find something. They had to have left something right?” Nick said.  
“My thoughts exactly.” Luke smiled at him.  
Nick and I got up, and began searching the house. “Where would someone store a tent anyway?” I asked.  
“Usually the basement or attic or something.” Nick responded.  
“Alright, let’s start with the basement… mind coming with me?” I asked.  
“Yeah, I’m on it.” He responded getting his flashlight out of his bag. We both made our way to the Basement door. Nick opened it, the creak in the door sounding old and worn. It was pitch black in there, which I was afraid of… I was afraid of the dark, one of the reasons I was afraid of thunder was the loud and unsuspecting shock from it all. I felt my body move forward, the wood on the steps felt worn and cracking. As I stepped on the second step downstairs, I felt my foot fall through and my body slipping through the now broken step. As I felt my body succumb to gravity, I felt Nick grab my waist from behind, “Woah! Woah! I got ya! Hold on!” He pulled me up, pulling my body close to his. I was shaking, and breathing heavily. It startled me, especially since I don’t really need a broken leg right now. I buried my face in his chest. “Hey… hey… it’s alright. I’m right behind you okay?” he said calmly.  
“Y-yeah… sorry. Let’s just keep moving.” I responded. “I’m fine.” I moved my body down the steps, Nick’s light being the only thing lighting the way. I tried to hide my anxiety… as I moved down the steps. I finally reached the ground. As we reached the ground Nick flashed his light around the whole area. “Nothing but boxes…” Nick muttered.  
“Yeah, but it’s a good place to start.” I said calmly. I began shuffling through the boxes, examining every piece of clothing I found in them. “Too small…” I muttered tossing aside the box of clothes. Box after box, I found nothing that could be considered useful. Though there were clothes in there, most of them were too small even for Clementine. “Something tells me whoever lived here had a young child.” Nick said looking in my direction.   
“Yeah… that’s what it looks like.” I responded.  
“You know… my mom always wanted me to have kids.” Nick said suddenly. “Well rather, she wanted to see me settle down with some girl, have a family and continue the farming business.” He tossed another box to the side.   
“So did you want to do that?” I asked.  
“Nah, I mean… I wanted a family sure. But, in my own time. Really, I guess I just wanted a choice, not following what everyone else wanted me to do. But there was only one problem.”   
“You had no idea what you wanted to do.” I responded looking at him.  
“Yeah… exactly.” He finished. “Not that having a family is a bad thing, it’s just… I wanted to find what I could do. But honestly, I probably was going to end up taking care of the farm anyway.” Nick sighed. “My mom wanted the best of me, but she also wanted grandchildren to love and adore.” He chuckled. “She was so old fashioned.”   
“She sounds like she was lovely…” I said smiling at him.  
“Yeah… she was… she would have loved you, she probably would have made it so that we got together. Probably would have looked for some way for us to get married or something. She was always like that with girls I dated.” Nick said shuffling through more boxes. “Nothing down here, let’s check the attic.”   
“How many girls did you date?” I asked curiously.   
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous.” He teased.  
“No…” I bit my lip, “Kinda…”   
Nick laughed, “I only dated 3, I’m working on 4 now, but it’s gonna take a while.” He smiled at me, “But she’s worth the wait.”   
I could feel myself blushing as he said that, “Y-yeah… I bet she’s pretty.”   
“Absolutely, one of the prettiest girls I have ever laid eyes on.” He smiled back at me, reaching the top of the stairs. We then walked up the second floor, to the attic entrance. Nick pulled down the door, and te stairs came tumbling out, but the stairs were small and narrow. “I’ll let you go up first, take the flashlight.” He handed me the flashlight and watched me climb up the stairs.   
“Don’t stare at me as I climb.” I said annoyed.  
“Sorry, it’s a nice view.” He responded.   
I turned at him and playfully glared at him. I turned back and climbed up the steps, reaching the top of the stairs. The room was of course pitched black, so I turned on the flashlight and pointed it around the attic. “All clear, come on up.” I called out to Nick.  
I could hear Nick climbing up the stairs, as I began to walk forward, I felt something grab me from behind. I heard the familiar sounds of a Walker gurgling and groaning. I jerked back and forth, trying to make it lose its balance. I then took out my knife and tried to stab it in its head, but the knife fell along with the flashlight. I was in a room with a Walker, and I couldn’t see it or attack it. So I thought of the only thing left to do, “Nick!! Please help!! Nick!!!” I called out. My voice panicking, my heart racing, my body numb from the pure terror that I was facing. “Please!!” I cried. My tears coming out.   
Just then I felt the Walker release its grip from my neck, Nick standing there, the light only slightly shined on his profile. “Take that you stupid Lurker!” in his hand was a hammer. Something he probably just found. He then took it again and hit the Walker in the head again and again until it stopped moving. He panted, and then looked at me. “Hey… you alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah… thank you…. Thank you….” I said hugging him tightly against my body.  
“You saved me…” I smiled in his chest, “You saved me…”   
“Yeah, I did. You’re not going out that way. You got me?” he said, still panting, obviously startled as badly as I was. “You owe me.” He teased.  
“Yeah… yeah…” I sighed, grabbing the flashlight. I pointed it at the walker and sighed, “Looks like an old woman… she must have gotten stuck up here… poor thing.” I continued walking towards the piles of boxes. After searching for several minutes, Nick piped up, “Hey! I found one!” he held it up.  
“How big is it?” I asked.  
“It can fit two, it’s big enough to stand in.” he answered.  
“Let’s see if we can find any others.” I responded.  
I searched behind a few of the boxes and found two more. “Woah! Look at these! I think we found our sleeping gear for the next few days.” I smiled up at him.  
“Well we certainly reached a jackpot.” Nick chuckled.  
“Yeah, but not enough food. Even if there was it’s probably all spoiled by now.” I sighed.  
“Yeah… probably.” Nick pointed downstairs. “Let’s get back down there. We need to tell them the good news.”   
Nick and I walked downstairs presenting the others with our new goodies. It felt like for once that things were looking up. We all gathered and walked out of the house, while the morning light still was shining through the pines and the leaves. Our weary bodies ready to move on and make a camp somewhere else.


	4. Chapter 4

Faraway Part: 4  
Four days went by so fast, how quickly everything happened. It was hard to believe how fast everyone got there… but our food was low. We walked since dawn, using the tents that Nick and I found… we all were able to survive because a few of us stood watch. Nick and I had to stand watch a few nights… the solace of the night air, and silence of the world at that moment. Nick and I had time to talk, we couldn’t shout, for we’d draw attention, but… we could at least speak with each other.  
“We’re almost to the mountains according to Luke.” Nick said sitting down at one of the logs we found.  
“Yeah, he said there should be a place for us to stay somewhere near the mountains.” I sat down next to him, the log was uncomfortable, but I didn’t mind so much because I liked being around him.   
“I wonder what convinced him that the mountains would be safe.” Nick said staring at the fireplace.  
“I guess he thinks that it’ll be safer if we will be in the cold. We should probably get coats if we can… after all… it’s only going to get colder.” I sighed, my eyes glued to the fire as well. The flames were dim so it couldn’t attract any walkers.  
“You’re not a fan of the cold?” Nick asked, looking at me amused.  
“Not really… I get cold easily.” I smiled back at him.  
“Good thing you’ve got me around.” Nick teased.  
We sat by the fire side by side, just us… the silence of the night calming us both. I laid my head on his shoulder, enjoying the silence. “I wish things were more like this… I’m sick of all these walkers… all of this death.” I said yawning.  
Nick nudged me with his shoulder, “Don’t fall asleep… c’mon. We gotta stay awake.”   
“Sorry…” I yawned.   
“Let’s talk about something… to keep you awake.” Nick said.   
“Yeah… let’s.” I smiled.  
“Do you have anything that you wish you could do again?” he asked.  
“I wish I could go to the park again… sit in nature and just absorb everything. I miss when it would get cold… sitting inside and sipping on hot cocoa. Reading a good book, not having to worry about anything.” I smiled.  
“I know it’s weird to say, but I miss farming. Waking up every day at 4:00 and working till noon. Afterwards relaxing in the field, eating fresh apples and sitting with Luke as he played on the guitar.” He smiled at me.   
“I bet you got quite the work out from all of that manual labor.” I teased.  
“I have a six pack.” He looked at me, his eyes teasing.  
“Yeah right… you haven’t worked that hard in years.” I snorted in amusement.  
“Hey you don’t know. I could have one.” He joked.  
“Yeah right.” I laughed.  
“You wanna find out?” Nick grinned at me.  
I felt my face flush, “A-ah… n-no thanks… um… not now.” I blushed turning my head away.   
Nick laughed, “You’re too easy.” He ruffled my hair.   
“Hands off the hair!” I complained.   
“Not like your hair is very clean anyway. You got strands going everywhere.” He chuckled.  
“Your hair isn’t any better.” I removed his hat, “Your hair looks like a shaggy dog.” I ruffled his hair back.  
“Hey! Hands off the hat!” he cried trying to grab the hat out of my hand, put I pulled back, my back landing on the log, my body now laying down. Nick fell on top of me trying to grab it, his face close to mine. Both of us froze on the spot. My eyes dilated and my body felt stiff. His body was so close to mine, my face felt hot from how close we were.   
“U-um… I-I’m sorry…” he said nervously.  
“N-no… it’s okay…” I shyly responded.  
“I um… can get up if you want me to…” he said laughing slightly.  
“I-If you want…” I laughed with him.  
“O-or… um… I could… kiss you since I’m here… I mean if you don’t mind.” Nick blushed.  
“Oh… um…. Th-that’s fine.” I responded. “Ju-just… take it easy okay?” I asked.  
Nick leaned in, planting a kiss on my lips and pulling me close. I wrapped my arms around him gently and continued the kiss. As we continued the kisses increased and became more passionate, his body felt warm, his hands moved down to my side. I felt a wave of tense passion rush over me. My body aching for more. Just then I felt his hand slip under my shirt. My body instantly reacting and pushing him off.  
“O-oh god! I’m sorry… I… overstepped my boundaries.” He said shyly. His face was red like a cherry. “I um… Just… got carried away.” Nick laughed.  
“Yeah… you did… take it easy tiger.” I giggled.  
“So… um… off limits right?” he said scratching the back of his head.  
“Yeah… for now. Let’s um… see where this goes okay? Slow.” I nodded to him.  
“God… I can’t believe I’m so… um… Let’s just… stick to talking right now.” He chuckled.  
“Good idea.” I smiled at him.  
As the night carried on, we sat in silence in the dark. Our bodies tense from what just happened. But it wasn’t awkward, just more like… calming ourselves down. The sun eventually rose slowly, the beautiful orangeish pink hue lighting the sky. “It’s morning… Let’s get the others.” I turned to him.  
“Yeah… I imagine Luke will want to move now. I hope we’re almost there. I am getting tired of all this traveling.” Nick complained. “What a pain.”  
“Oh come on… it’s not so bad. At least I get to see you more…” I smiled at him, helping him up.  
“Yeah, it is nice.” He smiled back standing up. His tall frame towering over me. I felt so small in comparison to him. He smirked at me, “What are you staring at?”   
“Nothing.” I lied.  
“Yeah… sure.” He walked over to Luke and Clementine’s tent and called out, “Hey! Wake up! We gotta move.” Nick kicked the tent.  
He moved over to Carlos and Sarah’s tent as I moved over to Rebecca and Alvin’s tent. “Hey you two, the Sun’s up. Time to move.” I said shaking the tent with my hand. I heard Alvin groggily call out, “Mmh, yeah… we’re coming.” He said yawning.  
Everyone gathered outside after we woke them. Luke climbed out with Clementine following behind him, “No Problems I trust?” Luke asked.  
“Nope, it was quiet all night. Didn’t have to waste Ammo.” Nick responded holding up his gun.   
“Good, now let’s pack up and get moving.” Luke said walking to his tent pulling out his sleeping bag.  
We all packed up for the road, then put out the fire, and moved on. Our feets pattering past the trees and leaves. The weather felt colder than usual. I knew winter was coming, I just didn’t know how soon… we had no idea what month it was, what day it was. We just knew when it was cold and when it was hot. We tracked the time with the sun and we didn’t worry about schedules or dates. We just knew what we felt and did what we could to survive. That’s the world we lived in, no electricity, not time keeping. I didn’t even accurately know how old I was. I’m pretty sure I’m 25 or near it. Speaking of age… I was curious as to how old Nick was. Not that it mattered, it seemed so trivial now, but… I was still curious.   
Nick and I stood in the back of the group to keep watch from behind us, “Hey Nick?” I asked.  
“Yeah?” he turned to me.  
“How old are you?” I asked.  
“That seems like a pretty useless question. Where did this come from?” he asked.  
“I don’t know… I guess I was just curious… we used to talk about it a lot before this whole thing. I mean as people we did. Not that it was important or anything. I guess I just wanted to know. I was just curious.” I said looking back at him.  
“Hm… well since it’s Fall right now… I’d say I’m 21.” He said turning back to me. “My birthday was August 2nd.”  
“Oh! I’m sorry, we didn’t celebrate it!” I said surprised.  
“No, don’t worry about it. I don’t want to celebrate it. Doesn’t seem like a good time to do so.” He snorted. “But thanks for caring.”   
“No problem.” I smiled at him.   
“So how old are you anyway?” He asked.   
“Oh me? Um… I’m 25. My birthday is May 8th” I responded.  
“Springtime huh? That’d be nice right about now.” Nick scrunched his face as if in thought, “Y’know… Uncle Pete used to take me fishing every first day of Spring. It was kind of our thing. Just catching fish, just me and him… it wasn’t a matter of who caught the biggest fish… or who caught the most… it was a matter of having fun… I think that’s what I miss most about life.” Nick said sighing.  
Nick and I kept walking in silence, both of our footsteps being the only sound we heard. As we walked all of a sudden I heard a Walker growl, and Nick getting latched onto by the Walker from behind. “Ah!! Jesus!” Nick cried.  
“Nick!! Hang on! I got you!” I cried pushing Nick and the Walker apart. I kicked the Walker in the stomach and took my knife, lunging it into it’s head. “Die sucker!” I cried as I kept stabbing it over and over. Finally the Walker fell and I sighed, gasping for breath from the intense adrenaline rush.   
“You okay Nick?” I asked. Everyone gathered around all obviously startled by all of this.   
“Yeah… yeah, it didn’t bite me. Just startled me.” He said catching his breath.” Let’s just keep moving.” He responded walking forward. I followed behind him. Noticing the sudden shaken tone to his voice. Obviously scared.   
“Are you okay?” I asked.  
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Get off my back okay? I don’t need you constantly bothering me!” Nick snapped. “Leave me alone!”  
I looked at him shocked, my expression then grew aggressive as I walked past him, “I’m sorry that I cared so much. I won’t even ask next time. You can deal with yourself. I don’t need you to worry about me.” I said coldly, “I won’t care again.” I said pushing past him, his expression just as angry as mine, he didn’t say anything but his glare said it all. I walked further, to the point I was leading the pack.I stood next to Luke, his eyes showing concern for me.   
“Hey, y’all alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah. Just… fine. Let’s just get to where we’re going. I’m sick of all this bickering.” I said calmly.  
Luke looked at me, but kept walking, I knew that everyone else was listening, probably hearing the argument I just had with Nick. Luke looked behind him, at Nick, sighing. “You should take it easy on him… I think he’s just scared. He wouldn’t admit it, but I think that’s what that was all about.” Luke said.  
“So he has to act all tough in front of me to make a point?” I asked disgusted. “That’s so stupid.”  
“Yeah, maybe it is… but you gotta realize something about Nick… he grew up in a broken home, with only him and his mother. His Uncle being the only fatherly figure in his life… wasn’t exactly easy on him. He used to come to school with bruises on his cheek, and a cold unmoving stare. He’d pretend that nothing was wrong, but we all knew that wasn’t the truth… His dad would beat him, and he’d hide his fear and sadness from all of us. He’s always been that way. He gets aggressive when he’s scared, it’s just a natural response he has. You gotta take it easy on him. You mean a lot to him, and he was probably scared that you were going to get hurt… Nick has always thought of others before himself… He’s just like that… so of course he’s going to be protective of you…” Luke finished.  
I looked down sadly, now feeling like a horrible person, I looked back at Nick, who looked at me with the same glare, but it instead looked sad too… I bit my lip and sighed, “I really screwed up…” I said.  
“You were scared too… we all act irrational when we’re scared.” Luke reassured me.  
“Yeah… I know. But… I shouldn’t have yelled at him.” I confessed.  
“You both are tired… just give it a few more miles, we’ll let you rest then” Luke responded. Just then his eyes lit up as he looked ahead, “Or not…” he walked forward and in front of us was a steep cliff, with bridge to the left of us, and hills far beyond the eye could see.   
“Well, this looks like the mountains alright.” Alvin said impressed.  
“We’re here?” Rebecca asked.  
“Yep, this is it. Clem, mind getting on top of that rock up there and seein’ what all there is out there?” he asked.  
Clementine climbed on top of the rock with her binoculars, I stood behind her, so that she wouldn’t fall off. “What do you see, Clem?” Luke asked.

“There’s a little house.” She responded.  
“How big is it?” Alvin asked.  
“It’s pretty small.” Clementine responded, her tone sounding doubtful.  
“Anything else?” Carlos asked.  
“There’s a big house on top of the hill up there!” Clementine responded.  
“Probably a ski lodge.” Luke answered.  
“Might be a good place to set up for now. By the time we get there it’ll be sundown for sure.” I said standing with my arms folded.  
Luke pointed to the bridge, “Let’s see if we can cross that.” He said.  
“We’re not risking everyone on that bridge!” Carlos snapped.  
“We can’t just go around Carlos, it’ll take too much time to even find a place!” Luke responded.  
“It’s still risky guys…” I said cautiously.  
“Don’t worry about it, me and Clem will go and check it out. You all stay here.” Luke said.  
“I want to go too!” Nick said standing up.  
“No, you stay here.” Luke commanded.  
“Hey man, I’m not crippled because of my Uncle’s death. Let me help alright?” Nick said his aggression showing again.  
“No Nick, end of discussion.” Luke shot him down.   
Nick looked at him in disgust, and sat back down on the ground, “Whatever.” He said annoyed. I stared at Nick, my heart breaking from how I treated him. I sighed, “Hey Nick?” I sat down next to him.  
“Don’t talk to me right now… I don’t really want to see you after what you said.” Nick looked away coldly.   
“Right… I’m sorry…” I said biting my nail. “I’ll go with the others… I just… would rather stay away.” I said standing up and walking towards the bridge. It took me a few minutes to catch up to Luke and Clementine who were on the Bridge at this point.  
Luke turned around shocked, “Hey, why aren’t you with Nick?” he asked.  
“I really messed up, he’s mad at me… I guess I was too harsh…” I said scratching the back of my head sadly. “God why am I so stubborn.”   
“Give him time, he’ll come around. Let’s just cross this here Bridge.” Luke responded.  
Luke and Clementine went ahead with me following closely behind them. Just as we were halfway across the bridge some Walkers approached us from all sides. I attacked a few from the side, stabbing them one by one. Luke fell into a large hole inside the bridge, I panicked, my heart jumping as I saw him fall. I looked down the hole in relief as I saw that he was able to hang on to two pipes at the bottom. But now he was stuck, the river just below… a 50 foot drop for sure, with a Walker in front of him reaching for him, also stuck. I heard Clementine scream from behind, but I couldn’t see her from all the excessive Walkers on the bridge. Each one lunging at me, I had to fight them off by stabbing them one at a time through the head. There was probably 10 of them on the bridge. Clementine finally found a lead pipe after escaping the one Walker that had a cornered her. She stabbed the Walker with the lead pipe and then ran to the hole for Luke. I ran over and helped her with the pipe I took one end and she took the other. “On three we pull alright Clementine?” I turned to her.  
“I got it!” Clementine nodded in acknowledgement.   
Luke took a hold of the pipe and clung to dear life.On three we both pulled Luke up from the hole. He gasped for air as he clung to the railroad tracks, “Oh God… thanks girls… that was a close one…” he sighed in relief. “Alright, let’s keep moving through the bridge, carefully. “ Luke nodded at us.  
As we ran across the Bridge I felt something snag on my pants my whole body tumbling forward. The pain shocking my whole body. I turned around seeing what looked like a loose nail that had took hold of my jeans. I sighed, “If it’s not one thing it’s another…” I muttered. I searched my pockets for my knife, but as I reached for it in my left pocket, I felt the knife in my pocket fall out, just as I was about to stop it from falling, it fell into a small hole inside the Railroad track. Falling 50 feet into the water. Great… just what I needed. I turned behind me and noticed that Luke and Clementine were both gone, at least 60 yards away from me. I called for them, my voice carrying as far as I could muster. “LUKE!! CLEMENTINE!! SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!” I yelled. Just as soon as the echoing stopped I heard the sound of a Walker gurgle behind me. My heart stopped, realizing how dangerous this situation had just gotten. Oh God… not now. Not now! I’m not ready for this! I turned to the Walker who was in front of me now, my body was stuck, I tugged at my jeans desperately trying to force it off. My arms tugged as hard as they could, but it was no good, the Nail was stuck to it goo. My heart started to pound as the Walker approached me. I looked around me for anything hard, anything sharp, anything that could get me out of there. I then spotted a piece of rubble from one of the mine cars. I grabbed it and as I did the Walker fell on top of me, my body shook in fear, my hands started to sweat anxiously as I smacked the Walker repeatedly, desperately trying to kill it with every last fiber of my being. I felt the tears hit my cheeks as I tried to get it off of me. Just as I felt it’s breath on my neck, I felt something forcefully pull it off of me. I looked up and saw Nick. He angrily hit the Walker with the end of his Rifle. The Walker stumbled and fell off the bridge on the side, into the water. Nick knelt down before me, his eyes staring at the end of my jeans, he ripped the end of it with his bare hands, indicating just how strong he was.   
“There… you’re free.” He said about to stand up, but then he looked at me, my tears obviously startling him. He stopped and gave me a sympathetic look. “Hey… are you alright?” he asked brushing my hair to the side. I felt my body react as I hugged him close to me. “Oh thank you! Thank you…” I sobbed in his arms.   
“Hey… don’t worry about it…” we both were silent. But I could tell Nick forgave me. “Hey… I’m sorry for how I acted okay? I just didn’t want you to get hurt too…” he said sadly in my ear.  
“I can handle myself Nick… I’m not always in need of your help.” I responded.  
“I know… I Know… and I’m sorry for getting so agro towards you… I was just scared. I’m protective of you.” He said sadly.   
“I know… I know Nick… but you need to trust me, okay?” I said, “And I’m sorry too…” I bit my lip.  
“It’s alright. Let’s go, we gotta catch up with the others… so let’s stand up a-“ just then Nick’s face went pale as he suddenly stood up and started running with his rifle ready. I then jumped up as well, my body reacting and trying to reach Nick. I watched as Nick pointed his gun at some man who was pointing his gun at Nick. I stood there, my body stiff from fear. Just then Luke and Clementine yelled at Nick, to stop, my body again reacting as I tried to reach Nick before he fired, but… it was too late… Nick fired, his bullet reaching the man’s neck, the man stumbled back, his body falling into the river. Nick ran up to the others with me trailing behind.   
“Did I get him?” Nick asked.  
“You idiot! He was trying to help us!” Luke responded.  
“Yeah right! He had a gun on him! He pointed it at me!” Nick defended himself.  
“That ain’t no excuse for you to go firin’ at every person you see Nick!” Luke yelled.  
“I thought he was going to shoot you!” Nick responded.  
“It did look like he was aiming at Nick… Luke…” I said defending him.  
“Don’t tell me you think that too!” Luke looked at me offended.  
“I do! I believe Nick wouldn’t do something unless he thought you were in danger!” I snapped at Luke.  
I then heard Carlos behind us, “Enough of this, get off the bridge, we’ll talk about this on the other side!” Carlos barked.  
We all shuffled off of the bridge, the rest of the group behind us.   
“What’s going on here?” Alvin asked.  
“Nick here shot a man who was offering us food!” Luke yelled.  
“He could have been working for Carver! Besides, he pointed the gun at me first!” Nick yelled back.  
“Did he point his gun first Clementine?” Alvin asked.  
Clementine looked disoriented like she didn’t want to answer, “I don’t know… it all happened so fast!” she answered honestly.  
“From where I stood it looked like he was… you know how Nick gets!” I said.  
“How do I get?” Nick glared at me.  
“You get protective okay? You tend to pull the trigger first and ask questions later! I’m not saying that’s a terrible thing! Your heart was in the right place Nick!” I said defending him.  
“Enough of this! The rest of you rest, I need to talk to you Luke.” Carlos nodded to Luke.   
I sighed, and walked over to Sarah who was sitting next to Alvin and Rebecca. Clementine went to talk to Nick, who sat on the bench in front of the station looking distraught. Alvin turned to me, “Do you believe him?” he asked.  
“Yeah… I do… I know Nick wouldn’t just pull the trigger unless he felt threatened.” I bit my thumb, “Though sometimes he does tend to shoot when not prompted…” I sighed, “I just know that Nick isn’t the type to kill someone unless he felt that they were a threat.” I said looking at them.  
Alvin folded his arms, “It’s hard to tell how he’s doing these days. He’s lost it.”   
“He’s still trying to cope Alvin. It’s not easy losing someone and not even having the chance to say goodbye…” I responded sadly.  
“Yeah… I guess so… but still… he needs to take it easy, or he’s gonna really mess up one day.” Alvin said, just then Nick walked over to Luke and Carlos, and Alvin walked over to the station with Clementine.  
I looked at Rebecca. “How are you holding up?” I asked.  
“I could be better… our low food supply isn’t exactly helping me.” She said looking down at her feet. “I just wish this baby would come, I’m tired of having to take food from you guys.” She said, her eyes looking sympathetic.  
“Please don’t think like that Rebecca. We all gladly help out as much as we can.” I smiled at her.  
“Thanks sweetheart.” She smiled back at me.  
Just then Sarah piped up, “Do you think Nick is a good guy?” she asked me.  
“Yeah… I do.” I smiled at her. “Do you think he is?” I asked Sarah.  
“Yeah… he always gives me piggyback rides. He’s pretty bad at Chess though, but… he always plays with me whenever Clementine can’t.” Sarah said a big smile spreading across her face.  
“Yeah… he’s a good guy. Hey, I’ll play with you next time, okay? I’m sure I could show you a few games we used to play as kids. Find a jump rope and I’ll teach you some rhymes.” I said smiling at her.  
“Ah Crap!!” Luke screamed. Alvin then ran out, “Hey! We got Walkers coming in!” he yelled out.  
“We know! We saw them too!” Luke responded.  
“Let’s get moving! Sarah!” Carlos called out, we all picked up our gear and ran up the hill towards the Ski Lodge on top of the hill. We all ran as hard as we could, until we reached the top of the hill… reaching the Ski Lodge, it looked closed up and shut down. It sat on top of the hill, a deck holding it up and preventing it from falling down.  
Alvin walked onto the deck of the Ski Lodge and looked through one of the windows, that was covered in boards, “It looks empty…” he said folding his arms.  
“Let’s keep looking around, we gotta find a way in.” Carlos commanded.  
Clementine and Luke walked over to the observation tower that was connected to the ski lifts. Luke and I stood next to the ladder.   
“Alright, I want you to take a look up there Clementine, let us know if you see any lurkers or anybody following us, got it?” he nodded at her.   
“Yeah… just gotta climb up here right?” Piece of cake.” Clementine responded, her face obviously showing she was concerned.   
“Don’t worry, we got ya if you fall.” Luke responded. Obviously nominating me too.  
We watched as Clementine climbed up the tower, slipping only once, but carrying on. She reached the top and cried out, “Made it!”   
“What do you see?” Luke asked.  
“I see the bridge from here…” she responded.  
“Anything else?” Luke asked. But just then we heard some screaming coming from on top of the Lodge deck, causing Luke to run towards it.  
“Yeah! I see some lights!” Clementine yelled. As soon as she didn’t get a response, she called out to him, “Luke?” I looked up at her and called out to her, “Luke ran off! C’mon! I’m not gonna leave you up there!” I called up to her. She then climbed down as fast as she could, and jumping off halfway, landing in my arms.  
“Gotcha! Let’s see what the noise is all about.” I said. Clementine obviously agreed as we both made our way to the deck. As we got closer we could hear a lot of arguing back and forth, not being able to hear who was yelling what, but we could hear different voices we never heard before. Obviously indicating that someone was arguing with them, survivors most likely. Clementine and I pushed our way through the crowd. Clementine reaching the end of it first. As we approached the group ahead of us, I spotted a familiar face… but… that’s impossible… he’s dead… it couldn’t be…  
“Kenny?!” Clementine whispered out shocked.  
“Clementine…?” Kenny looked back at Clementine shocked.  
“K-Kenny?” I blurted out as well, my tears coming down my cheeks.   
“Jessica?!” he looked up at me just as surprised.  
Just as I was figuring out what was going on… Clementine ran up to Kenny and hugged him. Kenny held her close and hugged her like a father seeing his child again after years of not seeing her. He looked up at me, my tears still streaming down my face. He smiled at me, holding his arm out, offering a hug as well. I smiled, my eyes blurred but my body reacting and hugging him back. His now long beard tickling my face as I hugged him close.   
It was… Kenny… he’s alive!!


	5. Chapter 5

Far Away Part 5:  
“Please, make yourselves at home.” Walter, the man who was with Kenny said, walking into the lodge. Kenny led the group into the lodge. It was a warm and serene feeling inside the Lodge. Walter rambled on as Kenny looked at me and Clementine. Mocking Walter with his hand by making it look like it was talking, and rolling his eyes. Clementine and I giggled trying to hide our faces from Walter.  
“What’s so funny?” Walter asked.   
“Oh nothing Walt, just talking is all.” Kenny said walking upstairs onto the main floor. The rest shuffled in, the first thing Sarah noticed was the Christmast tree on the side. Her eyes lit up and said: “A CHRISTMAS TREE!” to which her father restrained her, “Not now Sarah…” Carlos said.  
“Please, you don’t need your guns everyone. Sit back and relax.” Walter said   
Nick followed in behind us and looked up at Kenny, his eyes shooting daggers at him. “Not until he puts down his gun first…” Nick said cautiously.  
“Nick?!” I turned to him and glared at him.   
“What?! He hasn’t put down his gun since we got here.” Nick said glaring back at me.  
Kenny looked at Nick and the others in a displeasing manner, but looked at both me and Clementine, “Can you vouche for these people?” he asked us.  
Clementine responded, “Yeah, I trust them.”  
Kenny then looked at me, “And you?”   
“Yeah, I trust them with my life Kenny…” I said not even hesitating.   
Kenny stared at us for a second longer, and then looked back at the group. Alright then… he said putting his gun down in front of the bunches in the front foyer. The rest followed suit, with me doing the same as well. The woman that was with Kenny and Walter came in and gave Kenny a concerned look. Walter broke the awkward silence that hung in the air by saying, “Now then everyone, follow me, I’ll show you the beds.” He smiled at everyone warmly.   
All of the others walked upstairs, to the second floor, while Kenny, Clementine and myself all gathered around the fire place. The whole room was aglow by the Christmas lights and the fire place… it felt like a scene out of a Christmas movie. Kenny smiled at both of us, he poked Clementine’s hat, “Still wearing that dirty ol’ thing huh?”   
“You’re one to talk.” I said jokingly.   
“So… I was half expecting to see Lee walk up beside you both… Clementine and him were just two peas in a pod…” Kenny looked up fondly. He then noticed Clementine’s sad reaction and retracted his statement, “Oh God, I’m sorry… it’s just… hard not to think about you know?” Kenny said softly.  
“He saved my life…” Clementine said smiling at Kenny.  
“I knew it… I knew he would. He was a heck of a guy.” Kenny smiled at her.   
“What about you? You disappeared on us Kenny.” I said looking Kenny in the eyes.  
“Yeah… after I thought I could save that idiot Ben… I ran for it, and just kept running until I found the country side… I’ve been all over after that…” he looked at Clementine, “What about you?”   
Clementine responded, “I was with Christa and Omid at first… and then… well… Omid is dead… and Christa…. I don’t know where she is…” Clementine answered. “Then…” she looked up at me, “I found this group… the’ve been taking care of me since then.” Clementine smiled up at me. Kenny then looked at me, “And you? Where have you been?” he asked, “Why weren’t you with them?”  
“I… looked for you after you left Kenny…” I remembered my words to Kenny before he left… how I confessed my feelings for him, feeling embarrassed by the whole thing. “I… looked for hours, and after I couldn’t find you… I gave up, and traveled by myself for months, or a year… I don’t know how long it’s been… but then I found this group at a Cabin… they were wary of me at first, but… I was able to fit in after a while. I’ve been with them ever since.” I smiled at Kenny.  
“Sounds like you both had your fair share of trouble.” Kenny looked at us sympathetically. “Heck, I’m just glad we found each other.” Kenny said smiling at both of us.  
“We’re glad too Kenny, trust us.” I nodded at him. He looked at both of us, smiling openly.   
“Ditto.” He responded still smiling.  
Just then the woman he was with before came downstairs and greeted us, “Hello there.” She smiled at us.  
“Girls, this is my lover, Sarita.” He looked up at the woman, and Sarita looked back at us.  
“Nice to meet you.” Clementine responded politely.  
“Yeah, the pleasure is ours…” I said in the back of my head remembering how I had developed feelings for Kenny all those years ago. Making this a bit harder than I thought, but at the same time I knew that it was inevitable. I shook off the feeling and smiled up at Kenny, who warmly greeted me back with a smile.   
“Beautiful ain’t she?” he asked us.  
I nodded at him and smiled, “Yeah, absolutely! Glad you found someone Kenny!” I said showing as much support as I could. Kenny then looked at me, “Hey, do you have someone you are interested in?” he asked. I looked up at the upstairs area, at Nick, who looked back down at me and smiled.  
“Oh… him huh?” Kenny gave me a knowing smile.   
I blushed turning my head away, “We’re not exactly together yet… but… we’re getting there.” I smiled up at Nick.   
“What are you waitin’ for? You guys look good together!” he said laughing.  
“N-no… um… his Uncle just died. I got to take it slow with him.” I said scratching the back of my head.  
“Oh… I get it… well don’t hesitate much longer. Or you’ll lose him.” Kenny said patting my back.  
Just then, Carlos and Sarah came downstairs, Sarita noticed Carlos and developed a wily smile on her face. “Carlos is it? Mind if I steal your daughter for a second for a secret mission?” she asked.  
Carlos looked at Sarah who now had an eager look in her eyes. Carlos smiled and patted her back, “Just stay in sight sweetie.” Carlos said walking away.   
Nick and Luke came down from the second floor, Luke already offering to help, “Hey, is there anything we can do to help?” he asked.  
Kenny stood up and gave them a smile, “Sure thing, I could use your help with the supplies in the shed, we got a lot to carry in before the storm hits.”   
I felt a pit in my stomach when he said storm, but I stood up too and nodded to him, “I’ll help.”  
Kenny looked at me, his eyes brows shot up, “You sure? It’s a lot of manual labor y’know.” Kenny said folding his arms.  
“I can handle it.” I said in a straight forward manner.  
“If you say so.” Kenny nodded at me a smile stretching across his face.  
“Let’s just go, we’re burning daylight.” Nick said, suddenly sounding bitter.  
We all shuffled outside, the cold air greeting us as soon as we stepped outside. We moved to the shed which was just past the skating rink. “So… Jessica told me that you guys met months ago.” Kenny said all of a sudden.  
“Yeah… we did. How long ago did she meet you?” Luke asked suddenly.  
“About… two… three years? Isn’t that right Jessica?” Kenny turned back to me. I could see Nick getting more and more jealous by the second.   
“What is your point?” Nick asked.  
“Nothing, just that we’ve known each other a while!” Kenny said defensively. “Don’t gotta get upset over it…” Kenny said looking annoyed.  
“Whatever…” Nick muttered under his breath.  
I sighed in relief, glad they didn’t continue on with the conversation. Nick walked beside me, and smiled at me, “Hey… you alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah, I’m fine, Nick, I’m not weak…” I said looking down slightly annoyed.  
“You haven’t slept in a day… you sure you don’t want to rest?” Nick asked.  
“No Nick, I’d rather help an old friend and get this done before it gets too dark!” I snapped.  
Nick stood back as I walked forward, I then heard his footsteps follow me and his voice aggressively answer, “What is your problem?!” he asked annoyed.  
“What do you think, Nick? I…” I bit my lip. “I’m afraid of the dark okay?! I don’t want to be out here for very long!” I said not looking at him.  
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked. “You did just fine when we were doing watch…” he said his voice sounding softer.  
“That’s because you were there Nick!” I answered simply.  
“Why are you out here then?! If you are so afraid of it shouldn’t you be inside?” Nick asked.  
“Because I don’t want to be without you, I’m scared Nick… bad things happen when it’s dark! What if you don’t come back, what if both of you don’t come back! That day when I thought you were gone… it affected me Nick! I thought you weren’t going to come back! I was scared Nick…” I said softly as we reached the shed.  
Nick bit his lip and sighed, “I’m sorry, okay? But you shouldn’t hide this kind of thing from me, you know.” Nick said now biting his nail. “Just let me take care of you… okay? I can do that.”   
Kenny interrupted us, “Alright, now you guys grab these boxes of cans, and blankets. We’ll need more since y’all will be stay’n with us.” Kenny nodded at the boxes, “So get to work, it’ll take two or three trips to get them all in. We’ll put them in the foyer so that if it does decide to rain on us, that it won’t get the boxes wet.” Kenny said. “Got all that.”   
“Yeah, we got it.” Nick said looking to the side.  
“What’s eating them?” Kenny asked Luke.  
“Lover’s quarrel I guess. That and they haven’t slept in a day or so…” Luke smiled sympathetically at us.  
Kenny chuckled, “Ah, two grumpy adults always sound like teenagers when they’re tired. I got it.” Kenny grabbed two boxes and started walking out of the shed, Luke following behind him, leaving me and Nick in the shed.   
Nick finally spoke, “Why don’t you ever want to tell me what’s going on with you?” he asked looking my way.   
“Because I’m scared that I’ll be putting too much on you… you’ve already been through so much, all my problems are so menial now… I don’t want to push my problems on you…” I said looking down at the two boxes I had just picked up.  
“That’s nonsense…” Nick said.   
“What?” I looked at him shocked.  
Nick put down the boxes that were in my hands and held my hands in his, “I…” he started blushing and bit his lip, but then shook his head, “No! This needs to be said…” he took a deep breath and looked at me, “I love you Jessica! Okay? I need you! I will do anything to protect you! I know I am a screw up who is constantly in need of attention! But I want you, I need you… I can’t live without you Jessica… I just can’t. I want to be with you, that means I want to know exactly what’s going on with you…” Nick said his eyes pleading me. “Please…”   
My face felt hot as I stared Nick in his eyes… they screamed sincerity, as they looked back at me. My heart was pounding by what he said… he said he loved me… He loved me… I smiled at him. “Oh Nick…” I hugged him close to me, “Thank you… I…” I blushed even harder now, “I love you too…”   
Nick cupped my face in his hands and smiled warmly at me, “Oh Jessica…” he whispered. He pulled my face close and kissed me gently; I felt my body react as I grabbed the back of his head and forced him into a more passionate kiss. Every feeling I ever had for him pouring out of me. I ran my fingers through my hair as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel the heat rise between us, our mouths and bodies both itching for each other. Nick moved his mouth from my lips now to my neck. My body shivered as he did so. I bit my lip… it felt so good. Just then I heard Luke’s voice call out. “Hey! Where’d y’all go!”   
I had just realized we were still in the shed, the door halfway closed, I could feel my mind tell me no, but my body saying yes. I wanted to push him away, but I couldn’t seem to do it. Everything felt right at this moment, more than ever. Nick kept kissing my neck, now moving down to my collar bone. His fingers wrapping around my neck to insure that I don’t move. I put my hands underneath his shirt, now feeling his stomach… realizing that Nick wasn’t exaggerating… he had abs… my God… he actually is strong… I heard Luke move closer as he called out, “Hey! You in here?” Luke asked.  
I wanted more so bad, but Nick pulled away at the last minute, his eyes teasing me as he did, a mischievous smile on his face. Luke opened the door just after he pulled away. “Oh, there you two are. What are y’all doin’?”Luke asked looking at both of us curiously.  
I knew I was blushing furiously, so I picked up a box to hide the fact.   
“O-oh… erm… I was just confused as to which box had what. I had to make sure I wasn’t messing up.” I said nervously.  
Nick smirked at me, obviously teasing me. “This one is so helpless… she can’t do anything on her own.” He said… his usual Nick mannerisms shining through.  
“Oh… well alright then.” Luke said grabbing another couple of boxes, with Nick following suit.  
Luke was ahead of us when I spoke to Nick, “You’re such a freaking tease I swear…” I muttered to Nick.  
“You love it…” he smirked at me.  
“For a guy who acts shy, you sure do like to mess with me…” I said annoyed.  
“I can have a bad side to me you know…” he looked at me from the corner of his eye.  
“Yeah yeah… whatever you say…” I muttered under my breath.  
“Hurry up you Love Birds! The rain is coming!” Kenny shouted from the lodge.   
“Coming Kenny!” I yelled at him.  
We finished delivering the rest of the boxes, by the time we got back in, it was dinner time. I shuffled over to the tables. Nick sat down at one table, so I found myself going there. Noticing Kenny was across from us at the other table. It felt weird not sitting next to him. He gave me a quick glance, and then called over to Clementine. “Right over here Clem!” he called to her.  
I watched as Clementine didn’t even hesitate to sit next to Kenny, which made me smile. Just then I heard Luke and Nick speak.  
“What’s his deal anyway?” Nick asked.  
“He seems off… like… he doesn’t trust us.” Luke stated.  
“Kenny is a good guy… just a bit rough around the edges. He used to be happier than this and well…” I bit my lip. “He… lost his family… all in one day…” I said looking down at my bowl.  
“Really?” Nick asked.  
“Yeah… it was hard on him…” I took another bite out of my food.“It hasn’t been easy for any of us… but… he just… shut down after that…” I sighed.  
Luke looked back at Kenny, and just then, Walter and Sarita got up, Nick and Luke followed suit. I got up as well and followed them over to the other table. Sitting next to Nick, as Luke sat across from Clementine.  
Kenny smiled, “Hey there.”   
Nick and Luke looked at him, “Hey.” Nick responded.  
“So… it’s Nick and Luke… Nick and Luke! You guys sure do look like a match!” Kenny said smiling at both of them.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nick asked offended.  
“Nothing… just that you two seem like good friends!” Kenny said defensively.  
Kenny now focused on Clementine. “Tell me, have you heard of Wellington?” he asked Clementine.  
“Yeah, Christa and I were going there.” Clementine answered.  
“It’s a camp just up near Michigan.” Kenny said winking at Clementine.  
“Michigan?” Nick said his voice obviously annoyed.  
“You got a hearing problem kid? Yeah Michigan! Think about it, fresh water, open spaces, and cold winters so the Walkers get slow!” Kenny responded.  
“That sounds stupid!” Nick snapped.  
“Listen Vanilla Ice! You don’t have to go if you don’t want, but Clementine is coming with us!” Kenny snapped back.  
“Says who?!” Luke responded.  
“Says she! Right Clementine?” Kenny asked.  
I could see that this conversation was bothering Clementine, I felt annoyed watching them bicker back and forth.   
“God you all are acting like 5 year olds!” I snapped at all of them. I then slammed my fists down on the table, “I lost my appetite! Have fun arguing like a bunch of immature children!” I said coldly walking upstairs to the bed area.   
I felt my body slump down on top of the bed, the warmth felt nice for once. I sighed positioning myself to face the ceiling. My body stretching on the comfy mattress, it felt nice to have something that I didn’t have to share for once. I didn’t really feel like sharing with Nick tonight… after how he acted towards Kenny… then again, Kenny can be a bit abrasive sometimes. They both were so different, but so alike at the same time. It was weird. Both had tempers, both were good men… but at the same time both handled things so differently. I sighed covering my face with the pillow to hopefully fall asleep. But then someone interrupted my hopes of sleeping.  
“Jessica?” I heard Nick call to me.  
I sighed again, and removed the pillow from my face, “What?” I looked at him annoyed.  
“Hey… I’m sorry about earlier…” Nick said sitting down at the bed in front of me. “I um… haven’t been very cheerful lately have I?” Nick asked.  
“Not unless you are sucking faces with me… no.” I said turning to the side.   
“Hey… that’s not fair!” Nick said suddenly.  
“It’s not fair that you lately have only spent time being physical with me.” I said sighing. “I want to love you Nick, I don’t just want to be some girl who is easy to get into your bed with!” I said now sitting up and staring him in the eyes.  
“That’s not what I am all about! Okay? I just… have a lot of emotion in me, a lot of things in me that just need to come out! It’s like a fuse okay?” Nick said shaking his hands back and forth.  
“I just want to know… what do you actually love about me?” I asked him, now staring his straight in his eyes.  
“You want me to go over every little thing I love about you, every little thing that I have ever felt for you for the past few months? All of the time that seemed to pass as I would stare into your eyes, my heart pounding as I found the words to say to you every day? The fact that whenever I was around you that my body would go numb and my mind would go blank. The fact that I had to hide it every time I was near you? The fact that your thoughts always fascinate me? That your existence is just enough to keep me going despite my fears? That I can’t seem to get you off my mind no matter how hard I try? Would it be a stretch to say that I love everything about you? From how smart you are, to how considerate you are… is that so hard to believe?” Nick asked me, his eyes staring into mine, looking for a response.  
I would be lying if I didn’t say that what he had just said flattered me more than I could have ever imagined. I felt my face grow hot as I stared at him shocked. “Nick…” was the only thing that I could utter out at that moment.  
“So I love you more for just your body, okay? Is that okay?” Nick asked.  
“Of course it is Nick…” I smiled wiping away my tears. “I really do love you, you big dope…” I said smiling at him.  
“Good… because… I got something for you.” Nick said walking over to his bag which was on the other side of the room. “I got two things for you. One of them I found at the old house we were at a few nights ago.” He pulled out a long chain necklace and presented it to me. “I found it amid the ruins of that house… Everything else was such a disaster… furniture turned over, blood covering the dresser… and there sat the most beautiful necklace… I’m no good with this mushy stuff… but…” he handed me the necklace. It had a beautiful reddish hue to it, it’s silver chain just made it look more impressive. I felt myself smile at it’s brilliance. “Oh Nick… it’s perfect…” I said smiling up at him.  
“It… reminded me of you…” Nick scratched back of his head, “Just… this beautiful thing among all this disaster… I couldn’t help but think of your red hair.” He smiled tugging at my hair. “I know it’s probably considered stealing… but… well.” He pursed his lips to the side in thought, “I doubt anyone really cares these days.” Nick chuckled.  
I smiled at him, giving him a kiss on his cheek. “I love it Nick.” I said putting on the Necklace. Nick smiled at the necklace, playing with the gem with his thumb. “Perfect…” he said his eyes softening. He then checked his bag again, and pulled out what looked like a notebook. “This is the other thing… I want you to have this.” He handed it to me.   
“A notebook?” I asked confused.  
Nick scratched the back of his head again, “Yeah… you said you like writing… so… I thought this notebook would be perfect for you to record your thoughts. I know you got a lot to say.” He gave a shy smile as I held it in my hand shocked. “Oh Nick… this is one of the most considerate gifts I have ever received…” I said smiling at him, tears coming to my eyes. “Thank you…” I hugged him tight in my arms.   
Nick smiled and gave me a peck on the lips. “I gotta go downstairs. You can join me if you like.” Nick said ruffling my hair. I stood up annoyed and then playfully took his hat, “Ruffle my hair, I’ll take your hat.” I looked at him teasingly.  
“Hey!” Nick then noticed that I leaned down on the bed with his hate twirling around on my finger. A sly grin reaching my face. “Oh, you want a repeat of last night?” Nick asked, climbing on top of me. But just as he was about to kiss me, he took the hat out of my hand and gave me a cocky grin. “Let’s save this for later.” He winked giving me a kiss on my forehead.   
Just then we heard what sounded like Clementine and Luke talking. We could barely make out anything but we did hear Luke say: “….Nick….” I looked up at Nick, who gave me a look like he wanted to confirm that I had just heard it too.   
“Glad to know you heard that too…” Nick said standing up, putting his hat back on. I stood up too and followed him downstairs. We both walked down the steps and noticed Luke and Clementine talking in the corner. Nick walked up and laughed, “Hey, what’s up? You guys hiding out down here?” Nick asked.  
Luke shook his head, “Nothing is going on. Go to bed Nick.” Luke said suspiciously.  
Just then Clementine showed Nick a picture, “There is something you should know…” she said softly.  
“Oh Christ… Oh God…” Nick said covering his face. “Oh god…”   
I looked at the picture and looked up at him shocked, “Is that…?” It was a picture of Walter and the man Nick shot on the bridge.   
“Hey! Shut up Nick! You wanna get killed?!” Luke said aggressively.  
“Shut up Luke!” I snapped at him.  
“You should tell him.” Clementine said.  
“I agree… no good can come from not saying a word.” I said looking at Nick.  
“I have to tell him.” Nick said looking up.  
Luke glared at Nick, “Do you want to get killed?! If you tell him he’ll kill you for sure Nick!” Luke whispered aggressively.  
“It would be better if I said something. I can’t live with the knowledge that I killed him and never told Walter!” Nick said glaring at Luke, “I’d rather die knowing I did the right thing, then live knowing Walter won’t see him again!” Nick answered.  
“I agree! C’mon Nick, let’s go find him.” I said taking Nick’s hand in mine.   
“Yeah… I think it needs to be said now… before it gets any later…” Nick said squeezing my hand. “I might die… you realize that right?” Nick looked at me, his expression more serious than I have ever seen it.  
“Not if I can help it…” I said, my face just as serious.  
We had no idea what was about to happen…


	6. Chapter 6

Faraway Part 6:  
Nick paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, biting on his nail, obviously nervous from the fear that was plaguing his mind.   
“What do I say?” he looked at me, “How do I say it?”   
“I don’t know…” I then looked outside, and noticed that Clementine stepped outside of the lodge. I bit my lip and walked over to the front steps, I looked out the glass double doors. My heart suddenly jumped when I saw her speak to Walter. His back turned to her, him smoking a cigar, fondling what looked like a knife.  
“You might want to decide now, Nick…” I turned back to him.   
“Oh God, what’s going on now?” he asked coming over to where I was. “Oh God… great, just great!” he cried now pacing back and forth in front of steps to the door. He bit his thumb again, a nervous habit of his it appeared. “I got to tell him. I have to!” he said looking at me.  
“I agree… do you want me to go out with you…?” I asked.  
“Yeah… that’d be best.” Nick said smiling at me. “Okay… here it goes.” He took a deep breath and stepped outside, I followed behind him and looked at Walter, then to Clementine.  
Walter was going on some tangent, sounding distressed. Indicating that Clementine had just told him. Nick looked at Clementine, “What’s going on?” he whispered.  
“You need to tell him!” Clementine looked up at Nick.  
“Tell him what?!” Nick asked  
“Tell him what happened on the bridge Nick!” I said to him, patting his back. “You can do it okay?” I said giving him a brief smile, “I’m right here… just… don’t worry okay?”   
Just then Walter turned around and looked up at Nick, “Tell me what happened son… please… just tell me. What did you do to Matthew?” He looked down at the ground, his voice obviously upset.  
“I-It looked like anyone. I freaked out… I thought he was going to shoot my friends… so I-I shot! I thought I missed but… I didn’t…and it just happened so fast… I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to…” Nick said his voice cracking, obvious panic in his demeanor.  
Walter looked at him shocked, “Do you have any idea what you have done to me!?” he looked at Nick angrily, which forced me to step in. I stood in between him and Walter, my body being the only defense from Walter, who held the knife in his hand, like he was ready to lunge.   
I was now face to face with Walter, my eyes both sympathetic and defensive. “He is a good man… he made a huge mistake… one that he can’t take back. I understand that you are upset… but Matthew wouldn’t want you killing Nick… not for his sake, Walter.”   
Walter stared at me angrily now, “You would defend this man with your life? You would vouche for him? You’re sure he’s not a bad man?” he asked. “Or is he like everyone else?”   
Clementine now spoke up, “He is a good man Walter… he saved my life.” She said, her tone obviously more calm.  
“Exactly, Walter… Nick is one of the kindest men I have met. One who I will always trust with my life.” I stared back at him. Not removing my eyes from him. “So just let him go… Walter… please.”   
Walter looked at me, then back to Nick, he sighed, tossing down the knife. Not saying another word, he turned around, still obviously hurt. Just then the Wind Turbine outside of the Lodge started to go haywire. Everyone suddenly shuffled outside. Kenny cursed, “Great! That storm is causing the Wind Turbine to go nuts! It’s gonna draw Walkers with that noise!” he yelled running to the wind turbine.  
Carlos yelled at Nick, “Nick, go get the weapons!” he commanded. Nick ran inside and retrieved all of the guns from inside, handing them to all of us one by one. He handed me my rifle and ran out to the Wind Turbine.   
“Someone shut this thing off!” Kenny barked.  
“I’ll do it.” Clementine answered.   
Carlos turned to me and Nick, “You two, help me keep an eye out for Walkers.”   
Nick and I followed Carlos to the side as we watched the tree lines for Walkers. The wind turbine making a roaring sound. In just a few minutes Clementine had the turbine off, but all the Walkers for miles came shuffling to our area. Nick, Carlos, Sarita, Clementine, and myself all fought off the walkers as best as we could. Kenny and Luke went around to the side to check on the other part of the Lodge.  
“Get back to the house when you have cleared a path!” Carlos called out to all of us.  
I was able to clear a path back to the house, shooting the Walkers left and right. Just then I heard Nick’s voice scream, “Help!! Please!!” he screamed out. My eyes shot up to Nick who was getting attacked by a Walker, I reached for my rifle and aimed, but I was out of bullets. “Oh god!” I cried looking up at Nick. Just then I heard a gunshot go off, the walker falling, Nick still standing. Walter’s eyes still had sadness in them… but it was at that moment, I knew he had forgiven Nick. I ran over to him as fast as I could, yelling to Clementine as I did, “Go Clem! Go make sure the others are safe!” I called out.  
Clementine ran inside, as I grabbed Nick’s hand, “Come on! We gotta get to the others!” I cried running, with Nick following closely behind me. Just then, we watched as more Walkers fell, guns blazing, but it wasn’t any of ours… it was…   
“Carver…” Nick said out of nowhere.  
“Carver?” I asked looking up at him. Nick and I were close to the others by now. I watched Nick’s eyes focus on this group coming out of the woods with what looked like AK-47s. All of them walking up to our group, I now felt Nick get in front of me, his back to me, but his body close to mine. “Stay behind me…” Nick said, his voice cold but cautious. “Don’t say a word… and don’t look at anyone.” He said. I hid my face in his back, listening to his breath to calm me down. I then heard a man speak, his voice was deep but scratchy. “I found you all… finally. I see you have some new faces among your group.” He paused, and then I heard him say, “What do you have behind you Nicholas?” I heard him ask. I felt my heart pound in my chest. “Nothing that you need to concern yourself with.” Nick said now changing his direction so that it was away from the other man. “Is that so?” the man said, his voice indicating that he didn’t believe him. Just then I felt someone grab my pony tail and tug on me. My body was detached from Nick, which Nick immediately acted and reached for me.   
“Hey! Let her go!” he tried to grab me, but then one of the gunmen pointed their gun at Nick’s neck, forcing him to freeze on the spot. Nick glared at the gunman, and looked at me, a look of concern in his eyes. I then saw the man stand before me, he had a wily smirk on his face. “Well… who is this young woman? Have you been holding out on me, Nicholas?” he turned to Nick. He scratched his grey beard, and examined me carefully. “So who is this pretty little thing…?” He grabbed my hair pointing and pointing at me. “She seems like someone you care a great deal about. You never fought back before Nicholas… you usually let your friend fight all your battles for you…” he smirked again.   
“I’m nobody important. Just someone passing through…” I said trying to protect Nick with every effort that I had.   
“Is that so?” the man turned to me now, “Then you won’t mind if I just kill this young man here.” He pointed to the other gunman who still had his gun pointed at Nick.  
“No! No, please don’t…” I looked at him startled.  
“I knew it… you are involved aren’t you? Nicholas must be your little boyfriend then…” he chuckled. “Now then… take them all in the Lodge! Tie them up!” he called out to his men, all with their guns aimed at our back.   
I walked beside Nick, feeling guilty. “I’m so sorry Nick...” I said, my voice cracking from the pressure.  
“It’s not your fault… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you better.” Nick said looking down at me.   
We all were shuffled inside like we were cattle, our backs to the counters of the Lodge. My hands were tied, and I was scared for my life… but I was paired with Nick… so at least I knew I’d be alright if he was there. I looked at all of the faces lined with us… but I couldn’t find Clementine, Rebecca, Alvin, Luke or Kenny. They all were gone it seemed. I could feel my body sweat from the terror that I felt at that moment. I looked up at Nick, and he looked back at me, offering a sympathetic but worried smile. He then glared at the gray man, who didn’t take that too well. “What are you staring at Nicholas. Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?” he got close to Nick’s face. But Nick didn’t flinch, he just kept staring. He then slapped Nick across the face, “Don’t stare at me boy! You don’t know who you are messing with!” he yelled.  
“Leave him alone!” I snapped, not even really thinking. “You are so much of a coward that you hide behind your goonies and pretend to have all that power? You’re a joke.” I mocked him.  
The old man then smiled at me, his expression a bit worrying, “I see… you don’t know who I am do you?” he asked.  
“Should I care? You don’t touch a hair on Nick’s head. Got that?” I said my eyes pinned on him.  
He then laughed, “Your girlfriend has guts Nicholas… more than you for sure. But that’s only because she doesn’t know who she’s talking to.” He then grabbed my face forcefully with his hand, and jerked me up on my feet. “Listen here… girlie… the name is William Carver… you will remember my name well.” His grip tightened on my jaw, making it hard for me to breathe. I couldn’t fight back with my hands bound. I could hear Nick trying to stand up, “Get your hands off of her!” but then I heard the sound of a gun shifting, indicating that someone was probably aiming it at Nick.   
Carver grinned, “I have never seen Nicholas so riled up… you must really set his heart ablaze. Well, maybe we can change that.” He then released me, my knees weakly fell to the floor, I gasped for air desperately but before long he then grabbed my hair, and held me up with one hand, his other reaching for something in his pocket. He took the item and held it close to my neck, by the sudden gleam when it came out, I could tell he was holding a knife to my throat. “Tell me, Nicholas… how much would you risk for her…? How much would the rest of you risk for her…? You all know exactly what I want. I want Rebecca!” he shouted, possibly his way of trying to call out to Rebecca. “Come out Rebecca! Or I will cut her!” he yelled out.  
Nick then responded, “She barely knows Rebecca! Please, she’s with me! Leave her alone!” Nick pleaded.  
Carver stopped, I could hear my heart beating from the sheer tension of it all. He then chuckled, “Fine… I’ll use a better pawn.” He then tossed me to Nick, my body landing on the floor next to him.   
“Jessica!” Nick called out, “Are you alright?” he asked.  
“I could be worse.” I answered. But honestly I was scared out of my wits. I didn’t want him to know, or anyone else know… I sat up now, next to Nick, I knew he wanted to hug me at that moment, but his restraints made it hard.  
Just then Carver went for Carlos, dragging him out in the open. “Rebecca! I know you can hear me! Our baby deserves to be home! You come down now or the Doctor gets it!” he then started beating Carlos, torturing him, even bending back his fingers one by one. His harsh and rasp screams reaching the ceilings. Sarah crying out in panic, begging Carver to stop hurting her dad. Just when I thought it could get ever worse… Carver looked up, and smirked, “There you are dear… come on out now.” Rebecca refused to look up, not even acknowledging Carver. Carver snapped is fingers, the other two gunmen tying up Alvin and Rebecca now. Putting them down on the floor with the rest of us. Rebecca was next to me, and looked at me, “You alright sweetie?” she asked.  
“I’ll live.” I smiled at her.   
“Now, is that all of you? Or is there mor-“ just then we heard a gunshot, and the one gunman who was on the far side of the lodge fell, a huge bullet hole through his head. I looked at Nick, and mouthed the word, “Kenny!” Nick nodded, a slight smile creeping on his face.   
Carver then grabbed Walter, and pushed him on the ground in front of the large window. He aimed his revolver at Walters head, and quickly pulled the trigger, showing no remorse. Walter’s death was quick and painless… but it still impacted us. Sarita cried out, “You monster!!”  
“Take out one of my men! I’ll take out one of your own!” Carver hollered. Afterwards, a bullet grazed past Carver’s head on the post he was leaned against. “Right then…” he then grabbed Alvin, to which Rebecca screamed. “No!! Alvin!” she cried.  
I watched in horror as he pushed him in front of the window, again, making a point of showing what we were going to lose if Kenny, continued. As I watched Rebecca’s desperate tears, I felt my body react, pushing Carver as he held Alvin up. His body fell over at the same time that my body made contact with him. He dropped his gun, to which I planted my foot down on. Alvin’s face looked up at me shocked, but he looked relieved. As Carver struggled to get up, I felt all of the guns in the room point at my head. Carver stood up, his face angrier than I have ever seen a human being possibly get. He then grabbed my throat and pushed me up to the window, his now retrieved gun pointing to my head, “If you don’t come out now, I’ll end her!” it took them a few seconds… but I then heard Kenny call out, surrendering to Carver. “We’re coming out!” Kenny and Clementine both stood up, walking over to the double doors. Carver’s goons pushed them down in front of the others. Carver again pushed me down in front of Nick. “You keep an eye on that one. She talks too much…” Carver said coldly. “Round them up! We’re going home!” Carver barked at his goons.  
One by one, they all grabbed us steering us to the woods like a flock of sheep. We travelled on foot for a few miles before reaching what looked like a truck. It had the name of a hardware store on the side. One by one we were pushed into the truck. Before I could step inside, Carver tugged on my hair again, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “This is your only warning… you cross me, and you will not be seeing the light of day. Even your boyfriend can’t save you.” He gave me an evil smirk. “Got that?”   
“Screw you!” I hissed at him. He then smiled again, but this time he slapped me across the face as hard as he could muster. My body slammed to the ground, I bit my lip, trying to be brave I stood up and looked him in the eyes.  
“Well Nicholas… this woman has more fight in her than you have ever had in your life… I can see why you like her.” He kept that smug look on his face, as everyone in the van looked at me shocked.  
“Stop it Jessica! That’s enough!” Rebecca shouted.  
“You don’t know who you are dealing with!” Carlos also yelled.   
I could see Nick’s pleading eyes, but I didn’t stop, I don’t know what came over me. But I stood my ground, saying one last thing. “I knew someone like you once…” Carver scoffed, “Is that so? What happened to this person?”  
“They were power hungry too… constantly fighting with us… shooting whoever disagreed with her. You must love power, because deep down you are a pathetic man who has nothing to live for in this world. So you look down on others to make them do your bidding. You wouldn’t be anything without your guns. You use fear, because you have nothing to show for your life other than a man who has shelter to give. Pathetic really.” I smirked at him, my eyes never leaving his. He then laughed, as if he heard the funniest thing in his life. He grabbed the back of my head, as if in a caressing manner. “It’s too bad you know… you could make a great accomplice of mine… it’s a shame that I have to do this…” his once cool and calm demeanor now faded and his face was now of pure anger as he slammed my head down on the edge of the truck. My whole face in agony now. I could feel the blood seep through my mouth. My whole face felt like a brick assaulted it. Carver shoved me in the back of the truck making my body feel like a rag doll as I hit the floor of the back.   
I heard Kenny yell at him, “Hey!! Don’t ever touch her again! You hear me! Hey-“ the door closed, the only light being of the red lights inside. Carlos stood up, and approached me, “You’re going to get yourself killed with that temper of yours.” He examined my face with his still bound hands. “You don’t look like you have a broken nose… it looks like he only damaged your mouth. Possibly broke a few teeth…” Carlos said sighing, “You got lucky.” He went back and sat next to Sarah.   
I positioned myself to sit in between Nick and Kenny. My whole body felt stiff, and my head felt light.   
“How you feeling kid?” Kenny asked.  
“Well… my mouth is full of blood, and my head feels like it was on the tilt a whirl for an hour… but I must say, it was worth it to make that man mad…” I smirked at Kenny.  
“You got guts, I’ll give you that…” Alvin said giving a slight smile.  
“Just a guy with anger issues… hah…” I felt myself suddenly get light headed my head leaning on Nick’s shoulder. “Everything will be alright… don’t worry, Jessica.” Nick whispered to me.  
Kenny looked at me chuckling lightly, “You sure do have a lot of guts. You’re different from a few years ago.”   
“Yeah… well… when you’ve been on your own for a while, you tend to forget what it’s like to have boundaries.” I said shaking my head. “God this hurts.” I groaned.   
“It’s going to be a long ride… you better get used to it.” Rebecca said sighing.   
“How long exactly?” I asked.  
“Probably a day’s worth I’d say.” Alvin said staring at the floor.   
I felt so tired at that moment, that the rest of the conversation didn’t mean anything to me, nor did I even care what everyone else was saying. I laid my head on Nick’s shoulder. Just praying that everything worked out. I couldn’t seem to focus on sleep though, because it was so dark in the truck.  
“Nick…” I looked up at him, whispering, “I’m scared…”  
“Hey… don’t worry… I’m here.” He said pulling me close with his bound hands.   
I laid my head on his chest, his warm body putting me to sleep. “I’m sorry about my bloody face… I must be getting your shirt messy.” I said apologetically.  
“You think I give a crap about that?” Nick asked, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “I have worse things on this shirt trust me.”   
“Eww, don’t remind me.” I laughed with him. The rest of the group laughing as well, possibly to forget about what lie ahead for us… I sighed, finally managing to fall asleep. Listening to his calm breath, and heartbeat always made me feel safe and comfortable… I knew that Nick would never allow anything to hurt me… Not as long as he was alive anyway… I think I slept a good few hours before someone started shouting.  
“We need to get out of this mess right now!” Kenny’s voice suddenly echoed through the car.  
Nick and I both opened our eyes up, I yawned rubbing my eyes in annoyance, “What is going on now?” I asked looking at Kenny annoyed.   
“I’m thinking of a plan to get out of this dump!” Kenny looked at me. “Are you with me?” he asked.  
“It’s kind of a risk isn’t it?” I asked groggily.  
“You were the one willing to fight back just moments before!” Kenny shouted.  
“Yeah, before my face was slammed into the back of a Vehicle Kenny! Christ, I haven’t had any sleep in days and you want me to carry out some sabotage job?” I looked at him annoyed.  
“Besides, he has more men waiting for us on the other side of that truck! We’re going to be making a huge mistake if we attack them bound like we are!” Nick responded.  
“Oh shut up boy!” Kenny snapped.  
“Mister, I ain’t a boy!” Nick glared at Kenny.  
“Oh right… you’re a MAN!” Kenny glared right back.   
“Now find me something sharp!” he barked at us.  
“What? Sharp? In case you haven’t noticed. I had even my pens taken away! I can’t write down my next entry even if I wanted to!” I responded with a pout.  
“You’ll get another chance…” Nick smiled at me.  
“God, I hope so…” I said sighing. “I just want to write something… anything…” I said staring up at the ceiling.   
Just then Kenny got up, “Aha! Jack pot!” he walked over to the other side and started removing his bindings with what looked like a loose piece of metal from the truck.  
“Now, we’re going to take them by force, who’s with me!” Kenny asked looking around.  
“I don’t think that’d be a good idea… Kenny… We need a better plan than just take everything by force…” I sighed. My head feeling light headed again. Nick noticed my struggle and held me close again.   
“It’s over man… we can only rely on Luke now.” Nick said aloud. Everyone else nodding along with Nick’s suggestion.  
“Oh yeah? And where is your hero Luke! Last time I checked he left you lot behind!” Kenny shouted.  
“He wouldn’t just leave like that!” Nick snapped.  
“Well he did. So you have to trust me now.” Kenny said. Everyone went silent, the truck shaking us back and forth rapidly.   
“We’re getting close…” Carlos said cautiously.  
“Alright everyone! Get re-“ Kenny almost got out but the truck shook again knocking Kenny forward into the door, hitting his head and passing out.   
Carlos muttered under his breath, “Probably for the best…”   
A few minutes later, the truck door open.   
“Up and at ‘em!” the scruffy man on the other side barked at us. Everyone of us got up and started moving out of the truck. “What the heck! How’d you get out of your bindings?” the man asked Kenny annoyed, “Whatever. You get your butt over here!” he commanded. He then looked at me, “You! You go with Tavia here, she’s going to get you cleaned up. Consider it a kindness from Carver!” the man said aggressively.  
“Whatever.” I said annoyed, walking with the woman who seemed to be Tavia. She led me to this back room that looked like a break room. A man sat there, he was Asian, and had long hair that ran wild on his head.  
“Hey, looks like you got pretty beaten up.” He said casually.  
“That’s what happens when I am grumpy I guess.” I said staring down at my shirt, my own blood covering it.  
“Let me guess, you talked back to Carver.” The man said.  
“Yeah. Guess you can say that.” I said honestly.  
“My name is Vince by the way… I probably shouldn’t be nice to prisoners… but… I guess you can call me a nice guy.” Vince smiled at me.  
“Sure. I guess.” I said uncaring, as Vince took a cold rag, wiping the blood away from my face.  
“I think Carver has taken a liking to you… or maybe it’s just respect, I don’t know… but, he usually doesn’t have us take care of someone who just questioned him.” Vince said holding my face still.   
“I don’t know about that. I don’t even know him. What’s so great about him?” I asked.  
“Besides the fact he runs the best fortified place for miles… he’s really nobody. Just like the rest of us, someone trying to make it out here.” Vince said, his tone straight to the point.  
“Why do you put up with that power hungry maniac?” I asked him.  
“I don’t know, I guess I’d rather put up with it then be out there where I’m more likely to die.” Vince said getting up from his seat, and throwing away the bloody rags. “Well you look to be in better shape now that I cleaned you up. Is there anything else?” he asked.  
“Do you know where our belongings are at? I… need my notebook.” I said staring at the floor.  
“Yeah, they left it with me… why do you need your notebook anyway?” he asked me.  
“It was a gift from someone special to me, I kind of need it to record my life out here. I want to tell the story of how I survived the apocalypse.” I said smiling confidently.  
“You are probably the most confident person I have met so far…” he laughed, “I like you. You’ll make it in this community. Just keep your head down, and do what Carver says, you’ll be let into the group soon enough.” Vince looked at my bag in the corner of his eye. “Look, I’ll give it to you later. I’d rather that everyone’s guard be down before I give you something. Just don’t expect me to give you anything too demanding… I do need to consider my well being too. Your notebook and that’s it, right?” he asked me.  
“Yeah. That’s it. Thanks Vince.” I said smiling up at him. “By the way, my name is Jessica.”   
“Nice to meet you. Look, if you work hard, I’ll let Carver know you’re one of the good eggs, alright?” Vince said helping me up out of the chair. “Now I’ll take you to where you’ll be staying. Don’t look too friendly with me. I got a reputation to uphold.” Vince said jokingly.  
“Alright then.” I said smiling at him, trying to compose myself.  
Vince walked me out of the back room and towards what looked like an outside area. A security door covering the door, indicating that was the “prison” of the building.  
“One more for you guys.” Vince called out. “She’s all cleaned up, and ready to work.”   
“Good, send her in there.” The scruffy man nodded to Vince. Vince walked me into the “prison” and removed my bindings from my hand. “Oh thank God, it feels good to stretch my hands again.” I said smiling.  
Vince then turned to the scruffy man, “Hey Troy, you go on ahead alright? I’ll take over for watch.” Vince said turning to the scruffy man.  
“Whatever man, just keep an eye on them.” Troy said walking away.   
Vince closed the door behind me and looked left and right, waiting for the other guards to walk away. “Alright, give me a couple of seconds. I’ll get your book and something to write with.” Vince nodded to me and walked back to the back room. I hung around the door for a couple of seconds before he came back, and shoved the notebook through the little slot. “There, now take it easy okay. Don’t let anyone know I did this for you… got it?” Vince asked.   
“Yeah, thanks. You’ve really been sweet towards me.” I smiled at him.  
“No problem, g’night.” Vince said walking away.  
I walked up to the fire pit, where many of the other “prisoners” surrounded the area.  
“Hey, you look better already.” Kenny said patting my cheek.  
“Ow…” I said sarcastically rubbing my cheek.  
“Oh, sorry about that.” Kenny smiled sympathetically.  
A man that was with them then turned to me. “Hey there, my name is Reggie. I see you are new here.” Reggie greeted me.  
“Yeah… the name is Jessica. Nice to meet you.” I smiled up at him.  
I then noticed his missing left arm. “Oh, don’t worry about this… I just lost it from a walker.” He said shrugging. “No big deal.”   
“No, it’s alright. Whatever you have to do to survive, right?” I offered him a sincere smile.  
“Right.” Reggie nodded.   
“Well, it was great talking to you, but I think I gotta go to bed… or… kind of bed…” I looked at the shelves in front of me, the kind that they used to stack pottery and heavy tools for gardening. I noticed Nick was lying on one of them. I walked up to him his eyes closed, like he was asleep… but I knew he wasn’t because whenever he was he’d snore like a bear. I walked up beside him and pulled down his hat over his eyes. He jumped up and growled, “Hey! What the-“ He pulled the hat off of his eyes, and finally looked me in the eyes. “Jess! There you are!” he said now hugging me. “You alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah, just fine. I actually met someone nice enough to give me back my notebook.” I showed him the book in my hand.  
“Let me guess… Vince?” Nick asked.  
“Yeah… how did you know?” I asked.  
“He’s always been a nice guy.” He smiled at me.   
“Good to know. At least I know I’m on his good side.” I said sitting down on the shelf with him.“So, you’re sleeping here huh?” I asked.  
“Yeah, well… I’d rather sleep than waste my time doing nothing. You can sleep up here with me if you want.” Nick smiled at me.  
“It’s a little narrow isn’t it?” I asked.  
“Yeah… but we can fit if we configure ourselves right. Can’t get any less comfortable…” Nick said knocking on the wood bench.  
“Fair point.” I said chuckling.   
“So… coming to bed?” he asked.  
“Yeah, just give me a second to write in my notebook.” I said laying back with him. Feverishly writing in my book, writing about not just my experiences surviving on my own… but…   
I looked at Nick and smiled at him. He smiled back and kissed my cheek. “G’night.” He turned over resting his eyes.  
My relationship with Nick as well… I want it to be a story about our life together.   
I wrote for a few minutes, and then laid down next to Nick, lying my head on his back, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I love you Nick…” I whispered to him.  
“I love you too, Jess.” Nick responded half asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Faraway Part 7:   
“Get up!” a loud voice yelled, pushing me. “Get up!”  
I looked up at Troy and scoffed, “Why? Why isn’t anyone else waking up before us?” I asked.  
Nick yawned and stretched as well. “We’re going. Troy, take it easy on her.” Nick said standing up.  
“Looks like we’re doing the heavy lifting today.” Nick looked at me.  
“Heavy lifting?” I asked confused.  
“We’re the most able bodied for that.” Nick said helping me up.  
“Let’s go!” Troy said walking towards the door. Nick and I following him to this area surrounded by what looked like heavy boxes, full of what looked like supplies.   
“These look like a lot.” I confessed my concerns.   
“Get used to it. This is your job. Don’t screw this up! We’re watching you!” Troy said closing the doors now.  
Nick groaned, “This sucks. This is the hottest part of the store. During the day the sun beats down on it, it’s walls are paper thin…which is the reason why we need to move it inside now… or it’ll get hot.” Nick said looking at me. “I hated this job even when I was here as a member of the group…”   
“Even though it’s practically winter now?” I asked confused.  
“Yeah… just imagine how miserable it is in the summer time. Expect a lot of sweating.” Nick said picking up box full of nails.  
“Start grabbing some stuff. It’s going to take forever if we don’t.” Nick said shuffling back and forth between boxes and the door.   
I picked up two or three boxes at once, some filled with clothes, books and food. Others filled with Ammo.  
“How did they get all this stuff…?” I asked shocked.  
“They usually drive somewhere a few miles out… finding whatever they can manage. It’s usually Troy who gets the stuff.” Nick said his head now covered in sweat.  
“You okay?” I asked him.  
“Yeah… just now feeling the heat.” He removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “Christ, I figured Carver would choose us for the worst job in the whole store…” Nick muttered.  
“Why is that?” I asked.  
“You didn’t really help you know. Getting into arguments with him.” Nick glanced at me. Putting down another box towards the door. As we put boxes down, another person grabbed the boxes on the other side of the door. Leaving us to be alone in this hot box.  
“Sorry. How was I supposed to know?” I asked annoyed, glaring at him.   
“Sorry… didn’t mean to make it seem like it was a bad thing. I was always stuck with this job. Usually Luke or Uncle Pete had it with me. It’s just, me being a farm hand, I could handle it.” Nick said still going back and forth, like he was used to it.  
“Why are you complaining then?” I asked.  
“It’s the God forsaken heat… I can’t stand it.” He said wiping sweat from his face again.  
“Why don’t you remove a layer of clothing?” I asked.   
“I wasn’t sure if you’d mind it…” Nick said muttering to himself.   
“N-no, I don’t mind…” I said turning my face away from him. I turned away and just scratched the back of my head.   
I heard Nick mutter, “Alright, if you insist…” I heard the clothing come off his body. I kept my head down as I picked up the other boxes, not wanting to show my nervousness.   
“You know, keep your head down any further, and you’ll tr-“ Nick almost got out, but my body slammed against the ground, landing on top of the boxes. “Ouch!” I cried rubbing my sides. “Crap.”   
Nick knelt down to me and helped me up. “You alright?” he asked.  
At that moment I saw just how he looked without a shirt, his body was tanned, he had muscles for sure, hair covering his whole chest and arms. He wasn’t a body builder, but you could believe he was used to manual labor. My face grew hot as I stood there staring at his frame. “I-I um… I’m fine…” I managed to stutter out.  
Nick snorted amused. “You keep staring like that, you’re going to drool.” He poked my head teasingly.  
“I um…” my whole body felt warm just from being that close to him like that. “I um…” I couldn’t come up with any words for what I was feeling at that exact moment. My heart felt like it could explode out of my chest. He was shirtless, he was shirtless… oh God! I felt myself swallow, trying to capture any moisture that was in my throat. I was sweating and I knew it, but I didn’t want to show any weakness as I kept shuffling back and forth with the boxes. My whole body was still hot, I struggled to even concentrate as I passed by Nick.   
“Hey.” Nick then grabbed my arm as I put down one more box by the door. “You’re starting to sweat. You might want to get cooler.” He nodded to me, his expression very serious.  
“I-I’m fine!” I responded trying to get away. But I felt Nick grab me again, “No you’re not… you’re sweating like a cow in heat. Get yourself cooler. You’re gonna dehydrate yourself at this rate.” Nick said folding his arms.   
“I-I can’t concentrate Nick…” I said softly looking away from him.  
Nick then looked as if he had finally realized something. “Oh…” he nodded at me knowingly. “I know what to do…” Nick said suddenly, walking towards the door to the inside of the store. “Hey, Wyatt.” Nick called over the man who took the boxes.  
“Yeah man?” Wyatt turned to Nick.  
“Give me a few minutes would you. I gotta take a break. It’s too hot in here man.” Nick stared him in the eyes. Wyatt’s face uncertain, like Nick was trying to pull something. “I dunno man… I could get into some trouble…” Wyatt responded.  
“Hey, you owe me man… don’t forget that I held the fact you were drinking from Carver’s stash…” Nick stared at him, showing a face that indicated that he knew a lot.   
Wyatt shifted his eyes around, and groaned, “Alright man… I’ll give you a few minutes for break. But when I come back you better be busy!” Wyatt responded.  
“Hey, give me 20 minutes man. Alright?” he asked.  
“20?” Wyatt whispered annoyed.  
“Yeah… that’s about how many beers you took from Carver’s stash if I remember…” Nick grinned.  
“Oh… yeah. 20 minutes is nothing man. If they ask, I’ll tell them that you guys started feeling sick.” Wyatt said walking away from the door. I then saw Nick lock the door from the inside.   
“What are you doing Nick?” I asked. Nick walked up to me and caressed my cheek. “We’re going to have time to… do what we want.” He said his voice very deep and seductive.  
My face got hot again, “I uh… I uh… think we should just continue working.” I said shyly.  
Nick then grabbed my hand, “I know you’ve felt this for a long time, Jessica…” Nick said softly, he got close to my ear and whispered, “I’ve wanted this too… so let’s enjoy what time we have for this.” Nick’s breath was hot on my ear, and made my body melt from the tense feeling.  
“N-Nick…” I squeaked out.   
“I love you Jessica…” Nick said again, now kissing my neck, his hands exploring my back. I placed my hands on his chest, now grasping onto his shoulders as he moved farther down. He placed his hands under my sweater, now pulling it up past my stomach, now past my head, leaving me only in my tank top.   
Nick kissed me passionately, pushing me against the wall, his body feverishly moving. He moved down to my neck, and bit my soft spot, causing me to moan. I covered my mouth desperately trying to hide it. Nick looked up at me from my neck, and gave me a devious grin. “Don’t hide it baby… let me know exactly how you feel.” his voice was so deep and sensual.  
“N-Nick…” I gasped out, now clinging onto his shoulders for dear life. “I love you…”   
Nick now moved his hands to remove my tank top. I stopped him with my hands first, his eyes now glued to mine.  
“Are you sure about this, Nick?” I asked him. I could tell my face was red but I had to make sure.  
“I have never been more sure in my life…” Nick uttered into my ear. He pushed me into a back room, that had a mattress on the floor.   
“You know your inventory, Nicholas…” I teased him.   
Nick kissed my neck and looked me in the eyes. “I was stick with this job a lot… I used to take breaks back here.” He grinned at me.   
“Ready?” he asked.  
I nodded shyly, “Yeah… it’s been a while though….” I confessed.  
“That’s fine… it’s my first time…” he leaned into me. “I’m glad it’s with you…”The next twenty minutes felt like heaven. Our bodies melded… moving in unison as one being. Amid the tugging and pulling of hair… the pure passion raging through us like a hurricane. All of the pent up tension between us released like a waterfall… I haven’t felt that good before in my life. I was so happy to be with him… I almost forgot that outside was Hell on Earth.   
He laid with me on the mattress and sighed happily. “So that’s what it’s like… was I any good?” Nick asked me looking at me from the side.   
“You were the best…” I smiled up at him giving him a peck on the cheek.   
Nick put his hat back on and grinned, “Guess we gotta get back to work. He got up put on his clothes, helping me up afterwards. “You’re so beautiful… you know that?” he asked me sincerely.  
“You… really think so?” I asked him stunned.  
“Yeah… and I’m not really into that mushy kind of stuff.” He smiled as if he was pleased with himself  
We continued work for the next few hours. A certain light step in our bounce, we continued the day in a better mood than we had anticipated. Wyatt eventually swung by to check on us.   
“Hey, is that your girl?” Wyatt asked pointing to me.   
Nick looked up at me and smiled, “Yeah, you better believe it.” He chuckled.   
I blushed looking away shyly… his girl? Does that mean we are official? Oh gosh…   
I felt my cheeks flush as I carried the boxes back and forth. “She’s cute.” Wyatt responded looking at Nick impressed.  
“Yeah, man. I met her outside the camp.” He smiled at me and then back to Wyatt. “It was love at first sight for me…”  
“Hey, Wyatt, the two love birds in here?” a voice asked outside.  
“Yeah man, they’re here.” Wyatt responded.  
“Carver wants to speak to the woman. The foxy red head.” The voice said.  
Wyatt looked at me, his eyebrows shooting up in the air. “You better get going. Carver doesn’t like to wait.” He nodded towards the door.   
I looked at Nick cautiously, my eyes showing concern. “Nick…?” I felt my heart start pounding.   
“It’ll be alright. Carver wouldn’t kill you… he knows that would cause retaliation.” Nick said planting a hand on my head. He kissed my forehead and smiled warmly at me.  
“Alright, I’ll go.” I sighed walking out of the door. A young black boy on the other side. He was short, and looked grumpy.   
“Hey.” I said simply.  
“Hey yourself.” He responded glaring at me.  
“Are you always this grumpy?” I asked unamused.   
“Yup.” He said walking towards the front office, obviously wanting me to walk with him. I followed him folding my arms as I passed many of the other guards around the area. “You’re really young. How old are you?” I asked him.  
“19.” He answered simply.  
“Wow… you poor thing…” I said softly biting my nail.  
“You?” he asked me.  
“25.” I responded to him, just as simply.   
“You don’t look it.” He turned back to me. “I thought you were a cougar at first.” He snorted in amusement, actually showing a smile.  
“What? You’ve been looking at me?” I asked him, my eyebrows raised.  
“Don’t think of it as a compliment. You’re a prisoner.” Russel bluntly tossed me to the side.  
I giggled, “I like you. You don’t beat around the bush.” I smiled at him.  
Russel turned towards me and gave me an odd look. “You’re really weird, you know that? Why are you so positive?” he asked.  
“I don’t know… guess it’s the only thing keeping me sane.” I shrugged.  
“More like insane.” Russel muttered as he took me to the door to the upstairs. “His office is just upstairs. No lollygagging. He’s in a bad mood.” Russel warned me.  
“Thanks Russel.” I responded.  
“Whatever.” Russel walked away.  
I walked up to the office, the painful climb to the top made it hard for me to concentrate. I stared up at the door. My heart pounding, I opened the door.   
“Ah… it’s you.” Carver turned to me, a smile creeping on his face. “Please sit down.” He pointed to the chair in front of the wide window.   
I shifted my eyes from the chair back to him. “No… I’d rather not.” I said coldly looking at him oddly.  
“Fine… but this will only make things harder for you…” Carver said, his scratchy voice almost threatening. As he circled around me like a shark, something caught the corner of my eye. I turned and felt my whole body tense up at what was in the corner of the room.   
“A-Alvin?” I uttered. Alvin was tied to a chair in the corner, his body was covered in blood, bruises and cuts, he looked barely alive.  
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just passed out.” Carver grinned at me.   
“You monster…” I hissed at him.   
“Oh don’t even start with me… you know he deserved it.” He snorted like he was amused by what I had just said.  
“Deserved what? Deserved to be beaten by a mad man, who has a superiority complex, afraid of losing a woman who literally wants nothing to do with you? Yeah, that’s fair. He’s just someone who wants to live his life and survive. I thought at least you could understand that sentiment.” I folded my arms glaring him down.  
“You never shut up do you?” he looked at me annoyed.  
“Not really.” I answered bluntly.  
Carver’s face twisted in anger, and then went back to a smile, “I got something here that I think is interesting… for many reasons.” He dug into his desk and pulled out my notebook.  
“Where did you get that?!” I asked trying to reach for it, but he held up a gun and aimed it at me. I looked at him shocked, he leaned against the desk and held up the notebook.  
“I should be asking you the same thing… where did you get this? I don’t remember allowing you access to the confiscated goods we took from you. So I came to the conclusion of two possibilities… you either stole it… or you got one of my men to give it to you. Which is it?” Carver asked.  
“Why should I tell you?” I asked.  
“Well… considering I have a gun pointed to you… and I also can hurt someone you love like say… Nicholas…” he opened the book and read a passage from one of the journal entries I wrote. “…Maybe what I felt was infatuation, or rather, love, I didn’t really know. I just wanted to feel him close. After all these months of being alone, I was willing to open up to someone. Maybe Nick was just that someone that I needed…” he closed the notebook and grinned at me. My stomach felt like a pit had formed in it. He read my whole Notebook, up until my entry last night… oh God… He knows my weaknesses too… he knows I’m afraid of the dark, of thunder… of loneliness…   
“Seems as though this little book has really come in handy.” He smirked. “Now I know exactly how to expose your weaknesses… you hate not being in control… so let’s demonstrate exactly how much you can lose by defying me!” he pushed me down on the ground, my body desperately tried to fight back. But he held my head down, his body obviously heavier than mine. “Now then… do you want to tell me who gave you that Notebook?” Carver asked, I couldn’t see what he was doing behind my back, but I knew he had something in his hand. I had to think back to whether or not I wrote about Vince’s kindness towards me yesterday… and then I realized that I had not wrote about that yet… so I could still protect him. “I won’t tell you… I refuse!” I said harshly, my whole body feeling like it was going to be crushed.   
I then felt Carver tug on my ponytail. “Why are you protecting this person?” Carver asked. “They aren’t doing you any favors by letting you stay out there.”   
“I don’t know the person’s name… “I lied.   
“Oh… so it was a person… but you refuse to tell me the gender… fine then.” He began to cut chunks of my hair off. I think he was using a knife because it really hurt. “You still want to protect your friend!? Are you screwing them huh?!” Carver yelled now. “Tell me now!” he screamed.  
“No! Screw you, you fat pompous control freak!” I screamed at him.   
He now was berserk, but trying to hold back all of the pent up anger he had inside. He now cut all of my ponytail off. My whole hair was short now, like a pixie cut. “This is a cut of a woman who has no morals! This is your scarlet letter!” he picked me up tossing aside my once long hair, he picked me up, pushing me downstairs. My whole body felt numb because I wasn’t sure what was going on. He got on his radio and called for everyone down to this storage room.   
“Everyone down into the storage room now! If you want to eat tonight you better do it, or I will cut off all of your fingers!” Carver hissed, “And bring the prisoners!” he barked at everyone.  
Before I knew it, I was thrusted into a situation that I could not escape from. I felt stunned, scared and frankly unsure of what to expect. Everyone eventually made their way down to the storage room, Carver holding onto me by my collar. All of my friends shuffled inside, to witness my shame I imagined. I watched Nick’s face look at me confused one second, and then shocked the next. “Jessica?!” he uttered out shocked. Nick tried to run to me, but one of the guards stopped him, pointing their guns at him.  
“This woman has shamed herself and everyone around her! I took away her womanhood so that she can wallow in her own self pity. Look at the disgrace of a woman she is now!” Carver pointed to me, the knife he had before pointed at my neck.  
“What are you even talking about? You don’t know anything.” Nick snapped, “Just leave her alone already! You’ve made your point!” Nick glared at him.  
“Oh no, I’m just getting started! I have just the entry for you, Nicholas…” Carver’s deep scraggily voice mocked him. He opened up to one of the sections and read it aloud, so that everyone could hear him. “ I remembered my words to Kenny before he left… how I confessed my feelings for him…” he smirked at me, “How interesting… so you must be in love with this Kenny fellow. So you must be sleeping around, with every man in this camp huh?” He forced my head to focus on him. The other prisoners looking at me shocked. I felt my heart breaking, from all of their reactions, but Nick’s reaction most of all hit me close to home, he looked hurt, and betrayed. I could feel my tears welling up in my eyes. I didn’t tell him the truth… I should have told him my relationship with Kenny.   
“No! I am not sleeping around! Just leave me alone!” I screamed.  
I then felt Carver push me down on the ground, “Now that I have thoroughly lowered you to the weeping woman that you are… perhaps you want to tell me where you got this notebook. Or I could read another entry…” Carver threatened.  
“Just kill me already! What are you waiting for?! You’re ruining what life I even have left… just kill me so the others can go free! I get it, I stepped out of line! Just leave me alone!” I screamed.  
“I didn’t hear a name!” Carver now knelt before me, holding my head up aggressively. “Which one of these people helped you out?! Huh?” he asked. He made my eyes focus on the survivors. I looked at the guards, their faces looking terrified, or unwavering. I could see Vince in the crowd, but I refused to look his way. “Go to Hell! I won’t tell you!” I felt Carver release me as I said that. He slapped me as hard as he could muster, my cheeks burning from the pain.  
“Who did it?!” Carver asked.  
“All of this over a notebook?! That’s crazy man!” Wyatt suddenly piped up.  
Caver shot him a glare that sent ice down Wyatt’s spine. He then looked at me, picking me up and dragging me to Wyatt, the other guards moving out of the way. My body fell to Wyatt’s feet, Carver kicked me, screaming again, “Is he the one?! Huh? He seems fond of you!!” Carver screamed in my ear.  
“No!! He’s not! Okay? He’s not!” I screamed back at him.  
“Is he someone you are screwing then?! Huh?!” Carver asked.  
“What?!” I looked up at him confused.  
“You heard me! Do you get around?!” he slapped me again, this time leaving a bruise on my face.   
“NO!! Please just tell me why?! Why are you doing this?!” I asked begging him.  
“I need my group to know never to cross me! You have stepped on my toes far too long! You need to be punished! Now this is your last time, alright?!” Carver asked me. “WHO IS IT?!”   
“NO ONE!! I STOLE THE NOTEBOOK!! OKAY?!” I lied through my teeth, but it was the only way I could get him to stop.   
Carver now looked even angrier than before, picking me up by my collar he dragged me to what looked like a closet. I immediately fought back, kicking and trying to escape with every last fiber of my being. “No! No please! Stop!” I screamed. The others watched me get dragged out to the closet.  
“I guess I will have to use your fears against you!” He tossed me inside the closet, my body slamming against the wall. Immediately I tried to pry the door open, but Carver put something against it, locking it. “No!! Please stop! Just let me out! Please!!” I sobbed, my eyes never ceasing. I pounded against the door, my whole body shaking violently as my whole body panicked. “Help me!! Please help me!!” My fists still pounded, and I couldn’t stop. “Nick!!! Kenny!!! Clementine!!! Someone! Please help me!!” I sobbed furiously.  
“No one can open the door until someone comes clean! You understand?!” Carver yelled from behind the door.   
I could hear Nick on the other side, “Let her go! That’s enough! I can’t stand by this anymore!” Nick yelled. “You leave her alone! You got that?!”   
“Or what son…. You’re outnumbered…” Carver scoffed.  
I could still feel my body shake as I had subsided, my body rocking back and forth in an effort to calm myself down. Tears still streaming down my face, I kept muttering to myself, “Please… help me…. Please….”   
“This has gone on too far Bill! You let her go now!” Rebecca demanded.  
“Rebecca… you know that I can’t do that…” he laughed. “Not as long as I am running things.” Carver said coldly.  
“You’re suffocating her! Let her out now!” Clementine yelled.  
“You let her out now, or so help me…” Kenny hissed through his teeth.  
“Or you’ll what… Kill me?” Carver laughed- again, as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard, “You are nothing… I am only teaching her a lesson! Something that you all need to know. She is an example of what happens when you cross me!” he screamed at everyone. “Now who is going to com-“   
Just then I heard someone shout, “I did it okay?!” I heard that voice before, “Russel?” I whispered. Russel spoke up for me…  
“This is just too much… just over a stupid notebook!” Russel said annoyed.  
“No… it was all me man… I did it. But not because she did anything for me man… but like, she’s really nice.” Wyatt defended me as well…   
“NO! Stop… guys… it was me, alright… I did it to help her cope… If I had known you were going to go postal about it, I wouldn’t have done it.” Vince’s voice responded to the others.  
I then knocked on the door, “No… please… it wasn’t his fault… I asked him.” I said finally.  
“So… you finally confessed… good for you…” Carver opened the door, my body weakly falling to the ground as he did. Carver smiled at me, “That’s all I wanted…” he then walked out, with the others leaving, except us prisoners, and Wyatt, Russel and Vince.   
Carver called out to someone, “Bonnie! You escort the prisoners back to their camp!”   
“On it…” a red headed woman responded. She stood by the door to the storage. Vince and Wyatt helped me up, the other prisoners coming to me.   
“Check her out Doc,” Vince said to Carlos.  
“I got her…” Carlos said checking my injuries.  
“You are one tough chick…” Wyatt said impressed.  
“Despite me bawling like a baby before hand…” I snorted amused.  
“You refused to say it was me…” Vince looked at me guility. “Why?” he asked.  
“You saw what he did to me… I can’t wish that on anyone else…” I groaned as Carlos touched my cheek lightly, examining side to side.  
“Are we going to address the elephant in the room here?” Russel asked.  
“What are you talking about?” Vince asked.  
“The fact that he pretty much read her confession…” Wyatt said raising an eyebrow.  
I sighed, “That was a long time ago… I moved on…” I said softly.  
“So… are you and Nick…?” Wyatt asked.  
“Yeah… we are… if you’ll have me…” I looked up at Nick, my whole face covered with guilt.  
“Yes, of course I will…” Nick smiled at me, “Nothing changes that.”   
“Oh and uh… I didn’t sleep with her dude.” Wyatt said defensively.  
“I know.” Nick smirked at Wyatt.  
“Good, just clearing that up…” Wyatt looked down.  
“How does she look, Doc…” Kenny asked.  
“Bruises… minor skin breakage… and a black eye… I’d say she’s lucky to have escaped his murderous wrath.” Carlos looked up at Kenny.  
“Not to mention a much shorter hair cut…” I mumbled scratching my head.  
Nick smiled at me, “You still look beautiful to me…”   
“Thanks hun…” I smiled back at him.  
Bonnie now approached us, “You all have to get going… okay?” she said walking towards the door.  
“I don’t want you boys getting into any more trouble…” I looked at Wyatt, Russel and Vince. “You guys go on…” I said weakly.  
Russel then handed me my notebook, “Before you do leave… you should take this.”   
“I’m not sure I want to, for how much trouble this stupid thing was worth…” I held the book in my hand contemplating.  
“You better take it,” Vince raised one eyebrow, “For all the trouble you went through for the whole thing, you better hang on to it.”   
“It was my gift to you Jessica…” Nick said holding my hand. “I still want you to keep it.” He nodded to me.  
“Just find a better hiding place next time.” Wyatt said shaking his head.  
“Thank you guys…” I looked at Wyatt, Vince and Russel.“You shouldn’t have defended me.” I said looking down at my feet. “I’m not worth it…”   
“The contrary… you have been nothing but nice to us despite you being a prisoner. You don’t blame us for what happened… why?” Vince asked.  
“It’s better this way… it’s nobody’s fault…” I responded.  
“Everyone, it’s time to go.” Bonnie said.  
“Let’s get going before anything gets worse.” I nodded to everyone.  
“Thank you boys…” I turned and smiled at all three of the men behind me. They smiled back at me, as I walked with the others. Nick grabbed my hand gently and walked back with me. He smiled down at me, kissing my head as we walked back to the prison. Bonnie opened the door, and stood by the front entrance. We all shuffled in, our bodies immediately going to the fire pit. We all sat down at our respective spots, and surrounded the fire.  
It was dead quiet, no one knew what to say, the whole experience left me feeling scared and uncertain. “He’ll come back for me…” I finally broke the silence, “I know he’s not done with me…” I scratched my short hair and sighed. “It feels weird not having long hair.” I confessed.  
“At least he can’t grab you anymore…” Nick said looking at me.  
“You were so brave, I can’t imagine all of the things he did to you…” Rebecca looked up at me   
“Mostly beat me around… the worst was the closet.” I said biting my nail.  
“What’s that all about anyway?” Clementine looked up at me.  
“I… uh…” I sighed, “It all happened when I went to look for Kenny… I had ran around all of Savannah, to the point where it got dark… a storm brewing… I had to run inside for shelter. I ran into a closet when I was surrounded by Walkers… I thought that it would have been safer to hid from them, that, I couldn’t be spotted, and that they would leave if I stayed in there long enough…” I sighed again, “It wasn’t terrible at first… but then… well, I was stuck in the closet when the storm happened. The thunder roared through and I couldn’t see it… everytime it happened it just startled me. The more it happened, the more I heard Walkers groan and gurgle. It got to the point where that’s all I heard for hours… I was stuck in that closet for hours, alone, with no one to comfort me. I didn’t know what to do, I was literally stuck… if I had moved, I would have died… If I spoke… I would have died…” I finished biting my nail again.  
“Man… sounded like it was hard for you…” the man in the grey hoodie spoke up.   
“You are?” I asked looking at him.  
“Mike, nice to meet you.” He responded.  
“I’m Jessica. Sorry I couldn’t meet you under better circumstances.” I chuckled.  
“It’s fine. Nick told me enough about you.” Mike looked at Nick, knowingly, to which Nick scratched his head and blushed.  
“So what now?” I asked everyone.  
“We make a plan to get out of here…” Kenny responded.


	8. Chapter 8

Faraway Part 8:   
“What do you mean we’re going to break out?” I asked Kenny shocked.  
“What do you mean, what do I mean?! Look at you?! You look like you got into a brawl and lost terribly!” Kenny said pointing at me.  
“Don’t remind me.” I touched my cheek where Carver hit me.  
“Why didn’t you fight back?” A girl suddenly asked me. She had short hair that looked like she had cut it herself, her lips were pursed, and her eyes gleamed with determination.  
“I don’t know… maybe because I’m scared to die.” I said suddenly.  
“There shouldn’t be a fear in death… you’re surrounded by it.” The girl suddenly said.  
“I’m sorry… who are you?” I asked looking at her confused.  
“Jane.” She sat down across from me. “Anyway, you should have just fought back.” Jane said simply.  
“It’s not that simple.” Rebecca glared at her.  
“Sure it is. All you gotta do is retaliate.” Jane smirked at me.  
“Oh yeah, because that really worked when I talked back before.” My eyebrows raised at her in disbelief.  
“I heard you talked down to Carver in front of his own men… tells me you have the guts to do anything… yet you are afraid to die… why is that?” Jane asked me.  
I bit my lip in thought, staring at the fire place and shaking my head, “I don’t really know… I guess…” I then realized it as I looked up at Nick… I was afraid to hurt him… I was afraid of him or myself moving on without each other… it makes so much sense! “I’m afraid of leaving Nick behind…” I said finally.  
Nick smiled at me softly, his hand reaching for mine, and holding it. “Don’t be afraid…” Nick said sweetly.  
“But I don’t want to leave you behind Nick… and I don’t want you leaving me behind…” I said sadly.  
“I won’t. We’ll make it.” Nick said kissing my forehead.  
Jane rolled her eyes, “Please, you two are hopeless…” she folded her arms again, “I couldn’t really care about you guys… but I do want to get out of here, and if that means working together, then so be it.” Jane said placing her hands on her hips.   
“How are we supposed to leave now? Carver will be on to us… we need to take it easy.” I said looking at all of them.  
“He might kill you if you cross him.” Clementine said looking at me now. I looked to the side at the bed Nick and I share above Kenny and Sarita. “You’re right… I have to stay off his hit list for a while. Or I’m probably gonna get myself killed.” I looked at Nick now, who offered a thoughtful smile.  
“We’re just going to have to gain his trust back…” Nick stated, his hands locking with mine. “Even if it means having to work ourselves hard.”  
Kenny looked at me and then back to Nick, a plan brewing in his head for sure. “Alright, I have a good idea. But it’ll take a few days to get together… we need to get Carver off his guard. We’ll just play along for the next few days, and then we’ll devise a way out of here!” Kenny said with a smile.  
Mike shrugged, “Alright, fair enough. Let’s keep it down low though” Mike said looking around.  
As soon as he said that, Kenny gave me a knowing look, “Hey, you seem to befriend the guards easy… that Vince guy seemed convinced to help you right away…” Kenny said giving me a smirk.  
“What?” I asked shocked. “So? What are you getting at?” I asked.  
“I think he’s got a thing for you.” Kenny said out of nowhere.   
“No, I just think he’s a nice guy. Calm down.” I said annoyed.  
Nick looked like he was piecing things together in his head, “Yeah… he does seem a bit friendlier to you… but why, you guys only spoke a couple of times…” Nick bit his nail in thought, “Maybe it’s an infatuation kind of thing…” Nick said looking at me again.  
“Huh?! You guys are insane!” I said about to stand up and walk to bed, but then I saw Vince standing at the gate. His eyes shifting back and forth suspiciously. I was hoping that no one would spot him.   
“Hey! Jessica!” he called out.  
I felt my stomach drop as the others turned to him. “Speak of the devil.” Kenny looked at him and then back to me knowingly. His smile made me roll my eyes as I walked over to the gate. “What? You shouldn’t be here!” I said in a hushed tone.  
“I found something for you…” Vince said holding up a jacket, it was leather and looked warm.  
“What? What am I supposed to do with that?!” I asked confused.  
“Wear it of course! It must be cold out here!” Vince said, now opening the door. I could feel everyone’s eyes staring at the back of my head. He held it up to me and smiled, “Here! Put it on!” he said handing it to me.  
I put it on and felt the sleeves go down to my finger tips, I looked back up at him one eyebrow raised, “It’s kinda big.” I said scratching my neck. “And itchy… how old is this thing?” I asked.  
“Oh… um… sorry. I didn’t really realize how small you were. You are actually kind of cute- I mean… petite… that’s the word right?” Vince asked me.  
“Uh… yeah… that’s um… the word.” I felt my face flush from the embarrassment, because I knew that everyone was just staring at this point.  
“Well, I’ll find you a better one, for now, please keep it.” He said smiling at me.  
“What about the others? Mind hooking them up too?” I asked.  
“Sure, I’ll look around.” Vince said, now closing the door. He gave me a brief smile before walking away, “G’night.” He said waving at me and walking back to where he came from.  
I felt stiff as I refused to turn around, I didn’t want to acknowledge anyone at this point. But I knew I had to turn back to them and sit down. God this was the most uncomfortable situation I have ever felt the displeasure of experiencing…  
I turned to the others, now their expressions looking amused. Jane was the first to speak, “Looks like you really do have a secret admirer.”   
“Shut up…” I mumbled storming to the shelves where Nick and I slept. Nick followed behind me, rustling my hair playfully. “You’re so grumpy.” He teased.   
“Speak for yourself.” I said poking his nose teasingly. He lied down next to me, a sweet smile spreading across his face. He rested his body on his elbow, his hand keeping his head balanced. “Are you sure you’re okay with staying here for now?” he asked me looking at me guiltily.  
“Of course I am…” I said staring at his blue eyes. “I only want what is best for all of us…” I said running my hands through my hair. Nick smiled down at me, his thumb playing with my lips. “Luke is going to be here you know that right?” He asked me trying to verify his concerns with me. “He’s… going to come for us. He’s going to get us out…” Nick said, I could tell the idea of his friend leaving him bothered him a lot.  
“Yeah… I know if anyone can help… it’s Luke.” I smiled at Nick, my face showing confidence. He leaned in kissing me on the lips, resting his forehead on mine. “You’re so positive… it’s hard for me to stop believing.” Nick chuckled.   
“I know it’s been hard for you to… take anything I say seriously…” I said to him.   
“Yeah… it has been… but I am glad that I found you… you’ve really helped me to keep my head up… when Uncle Pet died… I…” Nick bit his lip in thought. “I wanted to just kill myself…”   
I felt my eyes focus on him even more now, trying hard not to cry at the sheer thought of his desire to end his life.  
“I… I don’t want to think about that…” I whispered.  
“I know… and I’m sorry… but I am glad that you found me that day…” Nick smiled, “I… need you Jessica, more than ever.” He kissed my forehead again. “I actually have something that I want to ask you.” Nick said his face looking so serious.   
I sat up in bed and looked at him surprised, “Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?” I asked him.  
“No… I just…” he reached into his pocket and sighed, “I’ve had this since my mom passed away… it was… something that was my grandmothers… she kept it as a reminder… when she showed it to me before all this began, she said that… ‘family matters most Nicholas, so you should treasure anything that reminds you of those who mean the most to you.’” Nick looked at me again, a small smile creeping on his face. It was shy but tender. “I know this is cheesy… but… hell, what does it matter anyway?” he held out a beautiful diamond ring, it was small but the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.  
“N-Nick?” I gasped shocked.  
“I…” Nick looked down blushing, “I want to know… if you’d… marry me, Jessica.”   
My whole body was jittery at this point. My face felt hot and I could tell I was grinning like an idiot. I had to snap out of my daze to answer him. “Y-yes! YES, I will Nick!” I cried wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes! Please! I… want us to always be together, Nick!” I cried hugging him tight. I kissed his lips feverishly, my whole body shaking with joy. Nick slipped the ring on my finger and chuckled, “I love you, Jessica… more than anyone can ever fathom.” He chuckled softly.  
In my head I knew it was soon, a bit too soon… but I didn’t care… I was overwhelmed by the simple happiness I felt for once. I just wanted something that secured us together… something that felt secure, something that didn’t feel like it would fall apart within seconds, like the rest of my life in this hell. Nick smiled at me broadly, I could feel his eyes watching me carefully.  
“What are you staring at?” I asked him look up at him.  
Nick gave me a goofy smile and said, “The prettiest woman I have ever seen in my life.”   
“You’re so cheesy.” I giggled pinching his cheeks.   
He moved my hands away and held them close to his chest, “I’m serious… when I first met you… it was love at first sight. I thought you were so beautiful, and I still do.” Nick said, his eyes staring at me with every sincerity that he could give.  
“Nick…” I said slowly, a smile reaching my face. “I thought you were the most handsome man in the world…” I confessed.  
“Even better looking than Luke?” Nick asked.  
“Luke is cute… but… you have a certain quality to you that makes you irresistible.” I giggled.  
*********  
I remember the first day of meeting Nick, Luke and Pete. I was on my own at that point… tired, and sunburned. I was so used to walking and living on my own… I had forgotten what it was like to see other people. I remember walking by the stream, looking for water to wash my face. I was covered in Walker guts. The blood covered my whole face, my shorts were torn, and my shirt was full of holes. I didn’t have any clean clothes… only a backpack with water, as much food as I could grab and a sleeping bag. I slept wherever looked safe, sometimes I slept in the trees just to find a place to escape Walkers. It was actually Nick who found me by the stream. I remember… I was washing my face, trying to get all the walker gunk off of me.  
“Hold it!” I heard a scream commanding me. I was on my hands and knees, the only thing greeting me was the barrel of his gun. I looked up at the boy and scoffed. “Please… I’m not afraid of you…” I snorted amused.  
I stood up and looked at the boy in the eyes. He had the most remarkable eyes… “I said hold it! Don’t move!” he shouted again.   
“That’s a way to greet someone.” I looked at him annoyed.  
“Don’t talk to me like that! I ain’t a child!” he responded.  
“Neither am I. I’m just cleaning myself up. I don’t want trouble, alright?” I said annoyed reaching into my bag. He pointed the gun at me again, his expression both scared and angry. I looked at him curiously, “Calm down, Rambo, I’m getting my wash cloth. I got crap on my face if you haven’t noticed. I need to get it off.” I said holding up the somewhat dirty wash cloth.  
“Why are you so calm? I’m holding you up!” Nick screamed.  
“Well, when you’ve been held up as long as I have, you get used to anyone pointing guns at you.” I said grabbing the end of his gun.   
“W-what are you doing?” he asked shocked.  
“You wouldn’t hit me would you? I’m no threat to you. So just put the gun down, and I’ll be on my way.” I said.   
Just then an older man and another kid walked up. “Hey! Nick! Calm down! What’s going on here?” the younger one known as Luke asked.  
“God son! Don’t just aim your gun at any civilian!” Old man Pete scorned Nick.   
“How do we know we can trust her? Look at her, she’s a mess!” Nick said pointing at me.  
“That’s because she’s been travelling son, not everyone has had time to clean up!” Pete said glaring at Nick.  
“I’m not going to hurt you… Christ.” I muttered folding my arms.  
“You okay Miss? You look like Hell.” Luke said sympathetically.  
“It’s Jessica, and I’m fine. I just haven’t really bathed in a long while. I was about to use this stream here… to well… get myself cleaned up.” I said honestly.  
“Cleaned up?” Luke asked.  
“Yeah, well… if no one else was around, I probably would have bathed in it.” I shrugged.  
“Bathed in it?” Nick looked up shocked, a bit of pink reaching his cheeks. “W-why would you do that for?! Don’t you know we were out here?!” Nick asked suddenly.  
I smirked amused, “Now I know… still wouldn’t have stopped me.” I stared at Nick, his face now red as an apple.  
“Y-you have no sense of humility?!” Nick asked.  
“Not really…” I said jokingly.   
Luke looked at Nick amused as well and looked back at me. “You wanna come with us? You can get yourself cleaned up.”   
“Nah, I think I bothered you enough.” I said starting to walk away.  
“We have a shower, and fresh food… a place to sleep for the night, it’s starting to become night you know?” Luke said now trying to convince me.  
“A shower huh?” I said looking back at him.  
“Yeah, and clothes. I’m sure you need some fresh clothes…” Pete piped up.  
“Well, these aren’t really going to last long are they…?” I said looking up at them, admittedly, it was beginning to be summer, and it was far too hot to travel alone. “Shoot. Why not?” I said shrugging.  
“Hold on! How do we know that she isn’t working for…” Nick looked at Pete and Luke, “You know who…?” he asked.  
“I don’t work for Voldemort… so no, I don’t.” I looked at Nick unamused.  
“That’s not what I meant…” Nick said glaring at me.  
“Boy, if she worked with him, she wouldn’t be willing to walk away.” Pete said glaring back at Nick.  
“I ain’t a boy.” Nick huffed storming away.  
There was a silence that filled the air before Luke spoke again, “So how about it? Want to stay with us for the night?” Luke asked.  
“Yeah, I think that would help… I won’t stay long, I just… need to get cleaned up before leaving…” I said smiling at him.  
“Well it’s nice to meet you kid… sorry my Nephew is a bit stubborn.” Pete said pointing at Nick’s direction. “He has a good heart though… just a bit stubborn.”   
We all walked back to the Cabin in the woods. They asked me what I was doing by the stream in the first place, and why I was alone.   
“It’s hard to imagine you being all alone out here.” Luke looked at me.  
“I… wasn’t originally. I used to belong to a rather big group, about 10 or so people… it worked out fine at first… but… it just…” I bit my nail. “It went to Hell faster then I thought possible.” I looked at Luke, his kind eyes looking back at me.  
“You must have had it rough…” he said sympathetically.  
“It hasn’t been easy…” I confessed. “I lost some really important people to me… it uh…” I paused, “It left me alone, and well… wandering around. I haven’t seen people in weeks.” I looked at both Pete and Luke, “You guys are the first to see me, and well… greet me openly.” I then looked at Nick who was leading us back to the Cabin. His broad back moving in a cold but unsure way, “Well… sort of.” I looked towards Nick concerned.  
“Don’t worry about him. He’s always like that, very untrusting at first… don’t take it so personal. He hasn’t exactly had the best life.” Pete said patting my back. “He’ll warm up to you. I promise.” Pete smiled at me.  
“I’m sure… so you guys got any running water?” I asked.  
“Yep, so you can shower as soon as you arrive. I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.” Pete grinned at me.  
“Woah, wait, it’s Nick’s night to shower.” Luke looked at Pete.  
“Well he’s going to have to share then.” Pete said laughing.   
“Thanks… really, it’s sweet of you guys.” I smiled at both of them, “It’s been so long since I have been met with such kindness…”   
“Please, it’s nothing. People need some kindness here and there.” Pete rustled my hair.  
“You should probably get some clothes too…” Luke said looking me up and down. “You look like you’ve been torn up.” His eyebrows shot up.   
Nick turned back to us, “Hey, we’re here… probably want to tell the others before letting this one in.” Nick said nodding towards the house.  
“What you can’t do it yourself boy?” Pete asked Nick.

“No, I’d rather you tell them… I’m not exactly good with words…” Nick scratched the back of his head. “I’ll stay out here and keep an eye on her. You two go in.” Nick said looking back at me. Luke and Pete leaving us behind, in the heat outside. Nick was in a tank top but I could tell he was sweating a lot from the heat. I watched as his sweat dripped down his muscles. He was really fit for someone as skinny as him…   
Nick caught me staring and glared at me from the side, “What are you staring at?” he asked.  
“N-nothing… I just… was noticing that you are really hot- I mean in like that you are physically hot- no, I mean you literally are!” I felt my flustered face turn away as I looked for the words to say.   
I could tell Nick was staring at me like I was crazy.  
“Wha-? You’re… really weird…” Nick chuckled. “You definitely don’t work for him… he would never hire someone as scattered brain as you to do his work.” I turned back to him, an amused smirk on his lips.  
“What? Scattered brain?!” I glared at him, “I’m not scattered brain! Take that back!” I playfully hit him in the arm.  
“No, you definitely are. You followed complete strangers back to a Cabin… how do you know that we aren’t some crazy killers or something?” Nick asked.  
“Because if you were, you would have killed me by now… what did you have to risk huh? I was with no one… No one would miss me.” I shrugged.  
Nick looked at me impressed, “True… you’re smarter than you look.”   
“Is that a compliment I hear?” I turned to him and smiled.  
“Don’t get too cocky…” Nick muttered. “And stop staring at me.”   
“Sorry, It’s just not often you meet such a good looking person out here.” I smiled at him.  
“You think I’m good looking?” Nick looked at me shocked.  
“Well sure, I’m surprised you aren’t spoken for. Then again, it’s hard to be spoken for in these times.” I smiled up at him. 

“How do you know I’m not?” Nick asked, giving me a weird look.  
“Are you?” I asked him.

His face scrunched, “No… I’m not.” He looked away in a huff. Luke stuck his head out after a couple of seconds and nodded to us, “Alright, let’s get this over with… come on inside.”   
Nick looked back at me, half concerned and half wary. I walked inside with Luke and Nick, a pit in my stomach telling me not to panic, but in the back of my mind I wanted to just run… but I knew I couldn’t… I walked inside and met with eyes that all were glued on me. Luke pointed to the table and sighed, “Sit, please.” He scratched the back of his head,   
I sat down and watched as the looming eyes got closer to me, I felt like I was being interrogated and that I was about to face some serious consequences. Finally one man spoke up, “How did you find our place?” he asked me suddenly.  
“I was just travelling. I found that stream, decided to wash my face. I haven’t really had time to get myself cleaned.” I shrugged at him.  
“Bull! I bet you followed us here!” the pregnant woman chimed in.   
“I’m sorry? But… who are you and why should I care enough to follow you? I mean you all look like a bunch of normal people to me. What is so important that I would follow you?” I asked somewhat annoyed.  
“Rebecca, Carlos… calm down.” Luke turned to both of them.

“This interrogation is going nowhere. Let’s leave her alone guys.” The big man responded.

“No! We do this now! How do we know she’s not dangerous?” Rebecca folded her arms at him.  
“Look, if I was dangerous, I could have killed you seconds ago. Look.” I reached into my holster and pulled out my gun. Just as I did, Nick pointed at my head with the gun. My eyes glaring at him from the side. “Here… you want my gun? Take it. Alright. I got nothing on me.” I held my hands up trying to show I had nothing else on hand. Nick’s eyes stared back at me, both aggressive and afraid. “Calm down, okay? I promise I’m not going to hurt anyone…” I nodded to Nick.  
“Y’all are getting ridiculous! Look here, if she wanted to really kill us she would have done it by now!” Pete defended me.  
“That’s because she’s not stupid enough to take on all 7 of us!” Nick snapped.

“Seriously? You guys have no idea how easy it is to kill someone out there these days do you? You think that it’s easy to just walk away? People do insane things these days, and you’re just lucky I’m not one of the sick people who would kill a bunch of innocent people. Well… so called innocent… I’m still kind of concerned with the fact that one of you has a gun to my head.” I looked back up at Nick who’s chilling eyes made my spine tingle.

“Nick, leave her alone, for God’s sake!” Pete shook his head at Nick.  
“But, Uncle Pete! She could be bitten!” Nick pointed at me. 

“It’s not like I’m here or that I have a functioning brain to defend myself or anything.” I said annoyed.  
“Just… let me shower okay? I’ll show you for sure, that I am not lying or a danger. You guys can even have my clothes if you want. You can check it for any weapons or anything that might accuse me of… whatever you guys are accusing me of. I don’t think randomly encountering a bunch of paranoid strangers is necessarily a crime really…” I looked at them confused.

The whole group became silent as they stared at me, all eventually staring at Carlos, who only sighed. “Fine… shower if you must. But Nick will watch the door.  
“What?!” Nick and I simultaneously responded.  
“You heard me, now get going. If you are telling the truth, I will know for certain.” Carlos glared at me. I sighed and got up from my chair. “Fine.” 

Nick scratched back of his head, “What a pain.” He groaned. “I’ll take you to the shower… but I’m standing outside. Got it?” he asked. 

“Yeah, you don’t need to repeat it.” I sighed following him. Nick walked upstairs, towards the door that was in the corner. He opened the door and looked down at the ground, his face red from embarrassment. I stopped and stared at him confused.

“W-what? What are you staring at?” Nick suddenly snapped. 

“N-nothing… shut up. Go in!” he yelled at me. I smirked at him. “Oh? You don’t like it when you think of women showering naked…? Only a door separating us? You are absolutely adorable…” I giggled at him. His face was like a tomato, “Shut up and go already!” he yelled now.

“Alright tough guy… calm down.” I giggled at him, closing the door.   
I took my time in the shower, the pure bliss of feeling the warmth on my skin… the air seemed so much fresher after a shower. You could just take in the steam and walk on water afterwards. It felt amazing after weeks of getting no proper shower… all of the walker blood and guts swirling down into the drain. I found myself humming a song that I used to hear when we actually had radio stations… it was a song that I really loved… eventually humming turned into singing… 

“And I'd give up forever to touch you  
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
And I don't wanna go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment  
And all I can breathe is your…” I then paused, somehow realizing that someone was singing with me… 

“…life  
When sooner or later it's over  
I just don't wanna miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me  
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand…” I then realized it was Nick singing along with me… he knew this song? I found myself blushing as I continued to sing in the shower. This solitary moment just between us… it was odd… it was almost like… we were on this different level. One that not everyone knew about, he seemed to grow closer to me by the second… I continued… with Nick now following my lead closely.   
“…When everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming  
Or the moment of truth in your lies  
When everything feels like the movies  
Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive” throughout the rest of my shower we sang that song together… but it wasn’t weird, or awkward… it was nice… something that didn’t remind me of death, a song that I used to love… and we were singing it together, Nick wasn’t a horrible singer luckily and we were both able to carry a tune. 

I stepped outside, a towel wrapped around me, my eyes immediately meeting Nick’s, he gasped and turned his head away. “Do you have any humility woman?!” Nick yelled. 

“Christ, shut up! You want to make it seem like I’m flashing you or something?” I asked annoyed, my heart racing from the shock.

“Oh for God’s sake, Nick… you’ve seen worse out there.” Pete came up the stairs with what looked like clothes. “Here you go sweetheart. This should fit you just fine.” Pete nodded at me as he handed me the clothes. “If the pants don’t fit, let me know, we’ll get you a belt.” Pete pat my head. 

Carlos then came upstairs, and looked at me first, “Not yet Pete, I need to see if she’s bit.” Carlos said calmly. Nick and Pete stared at Carlos like he was crazy. 

“Right now?” Pete asked a tone indicating he was in shock by the simple notion.

“S-should I do this now, when I’m barely covered by anything?” I asked looking at my barefeet and the droplets from my hair falling to the wooden floors. 

“Don’t worry, he’s a Doctor.” Luke’s voice called from the bottom of the stairs. “He’s seen his fair share of bodies in his career.” Luke chuckled.   
“I don’t see why I have to get examined… you’re treating me like a horse for God’s sake.” I looked up briefly at the others.  
“It’s better safe than sorry.” Pete now defended the others.  
I looked up at him shocked, my mouth agape like I wanted to say something in defense, but instead I sighed and nodded at Carlos. “Alright, where do you want me?” I asked.  
“The bathroom is fine… if you prefer not to get friendly with the men of this cabin.” Carlos offered a small smile.

“Too late, I’m going to be friendly with you in a couple of seconds here, Doc. “ I raised an eyebrow at him.

Carlos then laughed, the first time I saw him break his stiff exterior. “I understand your wariness… but please know that I’m not going to do anything unprofessional.” Carlos said patting my back and pointing to the bathroom.

“Why not Doc? It’s not like the rest of the world is concerned with morals or professionalism.” I scoffed at him.   
“You’ll find this cabin is different.” Carlos said walking me into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. “Now, please remove your towel… I just need to know for sure. Cover up whatever you want… I will look away as you adjust yourself.” Carlos said turning away from me. His back towards me. I sighed and removed the towel, covering up my private areas with my hands. “Alright, hurry up will you?” I said staring at the tiles of the bathroom floor. 

Carlos didn’t say anything, he just instead lightly touched my arms and shoulders, turning me around gently. He paused and cleared his throat, “Where did you get this scar on your back?” he asked unperturbed. 

I paused and tried not to show through my weaknesses at that point, “I… got it defending someone I loved. He was about to be stabbed by some maniac… so I stood in the way… pushed him to the side as I was slashed instead.” I answered honestly.

“I see…” he quietly observed. “You have several scares on your body, but no bites… which is a good sign.” Carlos said now turning his back again, “Please make yourself decent.” I did as he said and put the towel back on my body, wrapping around myself tightly. “Alright, I’m decent… enough.” I said looking up at Carlos finally.

“Good…” Carlos let out a deep and thoughtful sigh. “You can stay with us for now, if you wish… but if you become a danger to the group, we will not hesitate to abandon you.” Carlos stared me in the eyes, his tone indicating not malice but honesty.  
“Yeah… I guess that makes sense.” I shrugged. “Thanks Doc.” Carlos nodded at me, his expression not changing one bit, he then opened the door, Nick’s face being the first thing he was greeted with. Nick stared at Carlos shocked, his face going from his normal tan to a crimson. “I…uh…” Nick disquietly tried to get out. 

Carlos snorted and walked away not saying another word. Everyone of the boys were standing there awkwardly, staring at my vulnerable form like they didn’t know what to do next. Pete sighed and just tossed me the clothes he picked up earlier. “Welcome to the group kid. Sorry our little party is a bit… strange. As I held up the clothing in my free hand, Nick suddenly snapped, “Hey! That’s my shirt! What the heck, Uncle Pete!” He turned back to his Uncle offended. 

“Don’t give me that boy, it was the only thing that was clean, and besides, I think you owe her more than your shirt after today.” Pete turned back towards the stairs and descended down wards. Luke chuckled to himself. “Get ready now, we’re about to have supper, alright? You’ll meet our last house mate.” Luke then followed suit and walked downstairs.   
“Last house mate?” I asked looking at Nick.  
“Carlos’ daughter, Sarah.” Nick responded simply.

“Oh… alright then.” I said awkwardly closing the door and putting on the clothes Pete provided me. He was right, the clothes fit pretty well. Nick’s shirt felt so big on me though, probably because he was so much taller than me. He was well over 6 feet, and it was obvious whenever he stood next to me. I didn’t know whose pants I wore at that moment, but they were small on me. Tight, and a bit uncomfortable, but hey, pants are pants right? I opened the door and found Nick still there, “Do you HAVE to stand there like that? Don’t you have better things to do?” I asked walking downstairs towards the kitchen.  
“Someone has to watch you. You might still be dangerous.” Nick quickly retorted.  
“Oh…? Dangerous enough to sing with?” I asked stopping halfway down the steps and smiling up at him. Nick’s body froze, he again had a red face, his shocked expression now stiffened, “Whatever.” He pushed past me aggressively, like a little kid who was discovered fawning over another person. I giggled quietly to myself. He really was cute… very easy to mess with. 

That was my first night there…  
*****************

In the end, things have gotten better between me and Nick… when we were just figuring out each other existed, we still teased each other… but now that we both have confirmed our feelings, it seems as though Nick has become softer, more sullen when it comes to me… not that I am complaining, but it was weird considering how far we have gotten. That summer day, meeting this handsome stranger… it was like a dream. I knew from the second I laid eyes on him, that Nick was different from most men… he only put on a tough façade to trick people into thinking that he was stronger than everyone else. But the honest truth was that he was weak just like every other human being out there… he was just like the rest of us… and that’s why I loved him… because he was so special in comparison to the rest of the world.


	9. Chapter 9

Faraway Part 9:  
“We should probably stop doing this…” Nick said out of breath.

“Why? Because Carver is against it?” I asked wiping the sweat from my brow, now sitting up putting back on my shirt. Nick sat up on the mattress as well and kissed my head, picking up his shirt, putting it back on as well. “I’m just saying… I don’t want to get you into anymore trouble for being a rebel.” Nick smirked ruffling my hair.   
I giggled as I stood up, putting back on the rest of my clothes and scratching my short hair, “Some of the best things in our history was started due to rebellion. It’s not so bad when it’s for a good cause.” I smiled down at him. He had the rest of his clothes on by this point, and was now putting on his boots. “Yeah? Even if said rebellion means having sex when no one is looking?” he asked me, his eyebrows peaked sarcastically.  
I chuckled at him, putting on the jacket that Vince gave me, “Exactly. Rebellion comes in all shapes and forms.” 

“And positions, it seems.” Nick smirked at me, now standing up too. As we stood in the back, we heard someone knock at the door.

“Hey man, I’m back from my break. Hope you guys are work’n” Wyatt called at us.

“Yeah, we’re on it.” Nick called out to Wyatt. Like worker ants we went back to work, Wyatt opening up the door and picking up the boxes we left at the door, pretending like nothing was going on. Lucky for us, that’s how simple it was. I was thankful that he was here, and that we had gained the trust of some of the guards. One had a crush on me unfortunately…  
“Well the storage room is cold today. That’s weird.” Nick commented.  
“Yeah man, the clouds are out and there’s no sun. Ricky thinks it’s gonna snow soon.” Wyatt exchanged banter with us.   
“Ricky has predicted wrong before.” Nick commented somewhat amused.  
“Yeah, I know man. But sometimes he’s right.” Wyatt defended.  
Nick snorted, “Sure man.”   
It took us a few hours to shuffle through the whole mess of boxes. I was still shocked at just how much they had found. It made it seem so easy… Are we making the right decision by leaving this place? What if we could take this place by storm? Before long Wyatt was knocking on the door. “Hey, it’s 6, that means it’s time to get back to the cage.” Wyatt said looking at both of us.  
“What are we, hamsters?” Nick gave Wyatt a sharp glare.  
“S-sorry man… I didn’t mean it like that… just trying to lighten the mood.” Wyatt pursed his lip defensively.  
Nick glared at him briefly and sighed, “Whatever man.” He walked out of the storage room and marched away towards the prison.  
“Something made him mad…” Wyatt sighed, scratching his head, “Should have worded that differently, I guess.” He looked at me now.  
“Nick is probably not too fond of being reminded that we are prisoners in this place…” I responded.  
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have said that… anyway, you probably should go too.” Wyatt commented.  
“Yeah… I guess I should.” I responded.   
I ran after Nick and caught up with him, “Nick? You alright?” I asked.  
“Yeah…” Nick responded hesitantly. “I just… am scared. I really could use Luke right about now…” Nick looked down at me. His towering height always made me feel so tiny, I only reached his chest, so I was able to hear his heartbeat every time I hugged him.   
“Am I not enough?” I asked him suddenly feeling hurt.  
“Of course you are…” Nick responded quickly. “You are one reason I keep going… without you, Clem or Luke, I doubt I could keep going.” Nick muttered to himself.  
I looked up at him, my eyes probably giving away the fact that I was feeling the same way. “I doubt I could move on without you Nick…” I finally confessed.  
“Bull. You’d do fine on your own. You found us remember? You had no one with you… this whole time I had Luke, Pete and Mom… although you and Clem has come into the picture, I have lost what’s left of my family… how do I come to terms with all of that…?” Nick asked.  
I stopped walking, and grabbed Nick’s arm, he stopped at looked back at me, “Jess?” he said perplexed.   
“You come to terms with it by sticking by me…” I looked up at him giving him a confident smile. “We work together Nick… that’s what husband and wife do right?” I asked him.  
Nick stared at me, his eyes widening with the realization that we were indeed married. Perhaps not by traditional standards, but it was the thought and idea that counted. Legally we weren’t, we knew that fact well, but it was the idea that we had someone that we could hold close to us and be connected spiritually with that made it feel real enough. “Jess… you mean it?” Nick squeaked out.  
“Yeah, I mean it Nick… we are meant to stick together, right?” I asked a smile spreading across my lips.   
“Forever…” Nick pulled me into a hug and planted a kiss on my head. “How I ever got such an amazing woman in my life… I’ll never know. I’m just a stupid country boy… how did I get a smart and talented woman?” he chuckled, his voice echoing against his chest.   
“Flattery Nick? That’s so unbecoming of you.” I smiled up at him.   
“I can be pleasant sometimes.” Nick planted a kiss on my lips and took my hand in his, “We better go before Carver finds another reason to become a barber.” Nick teased running his hands through what was left of my hair.   
“Is it really that bad?” I asked scratching the back of my head, feeling the rough cut.   
Nick laughed as if he heard the funniest thing in the world. “You look cute no matter what your hair cut looks like.”   
“You’re just saying that,” I answered defensively.   
“No, I’m serious.” Nick looked me in the eyes and gave me a warm loving smile, “I think you are breath takingly beautiful.” He smiled broadly at me.  
“You… really think so?” I felt my face flush.  
“Yes… I really do.” He hugged me even closer to him. His warm broad shoulders felt so comfortable to press my face against. He was so much more affectionate today… it was weird. Not that I am complaining, but maybe a lot was on his mind… I don’t know…  
“Thank you Nick…” I said softly. He took my hand in his and walked me towards the prison area. The others were already there, except Clementine.  
“Hey, where’s Clem?” I asked looking around for her.  
“She’s tied up with Carver.” Mike responded in the back, near his sleeping area.  
“What? And you’re just gonna let her be taken back like that?! You guys don’t care that she might be getting abused by that psycho?” I asked startled.  
“Calm down, he won’t do anything after what happened with you… he’s too smart to rile up everyone at once…” Mike reassured me.  
“God I hope you are right.” My lips pursed to the side. I sat at the campfire with the rest of the group. All of the adults were there, Sarah was already laying down on the side… still no sign of Alvin. I noticed that Reggie was gone, “Hey… where’s Reggie?” I asked.  
“Dead…” Rebecca looked down at the fire place sadly.  
“Let me guess… Carver?” I asked looking up at her pathetically.  
“Yeah… good guess.” Rebecca snorted, but it wasn’t like she was passive aggressively talking back to me, it was more that she was annoyed with the situation.  
“It’s my fault…” Nick covered his face in shame.  
“No… Nick… it’s not. Reggie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…” Rebecca answered.  
“Still… I could have helped him…” Nick rubbed his temples, possibly due to a headache. After that… the whole place became quiet, the silent crackle of the fire and the distant moans of walkers being the only sound. I could feel the overwhelming sensation of guilt and grief wash over me. I could tell Kenny noticed first, because he stared at me intently.  
“What’s on your mind hun?” Kenny asked, talking to me like a significantly older man would to a younger woman.  
I shook my head trying to brush it away. “Nothing Kenny…” now everyone was looking at me trying to find the answer to that question. I felt the words just pour out of me now. “I… suppose I have a lot on my mind lately…” I looked at Kenny again… his long beard seemed so strange to see… I was so used to just his mustache, his clean shave and hopeful eyes… they now were much more… pained. Even with Sarita by his side… it left a sharp pain in my heart thinking about it. It was the same hopeless eyes that looked back at me behind the gate…when I was separated from him years ago. Those same painful eyes pleaded me to go, to leave.  
“I’m thinking about before… you know… when Lee was still around, when everyone was at the Motor Inn. Heck, I even think about Ben… how he was so careless… but he had a heart of gold that kid…” I sighed scratching the back of my neck. “I think about all that we lost… when we first started, we all had this hope… this will to just keep pushing. We all foolishly thought that if we could just survive one more night that it would be enough to justify our existence in this world not meant for us… They always say that it always gets darker before it gets light…” I felt my eyes start to water. “But it’s been nothing but darkness for every mile we have stepped… Kenny… you, me and Clementine… we’re the only ones left... We started with so many, and we are the only ones who can tell the stories, the lives of all these people we missed.” I buried my hand in my face. “We were supposed to all move on… our stories spreading across the world… we were supposed to tell each other’s stories and carry them on! Now we have nothing to carry on! We barely know a thing about anyone!” I was sobbing at this point. “I just… want things to be normal again. I want our world to be normal! I want us to go back to happy days, days of just being able to be lazy, read in bed, pretend like our problems were mere specks on the globe. That our existence wasn’t just to survive but to find our own dreams! Now what do we have?!” I asked, I was crying even harder. “When you left Kenny… it was like someone punched a huge hole in my heart, it was like someone just left me there to bleed… when I saw all those Walkers gang up on you, I refused to leave, and I wanted to kill myself when I thought you were gone… God Kenny… the idea of you gone… it made me feel so useless!”   
Everyone was now looking at me, their pained eyes focused on my crumbling form. Kenny spoke up first, “I’m sorry that I did that to you… I never wanted to hurt you like that. I just… couldn’t risk both you and Lee… especially since Clementine needed you.” Kenny sighed.  
“I know that… I just… wish that you didn’t disappear when you left. I was stupid enough to leave the others behind. To leave that little girl behind…” I covered my eyes with my hand. “I never should have left her like that.”   
I could hear Kenny sigh, “No… it’s not your fault… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that… but I panicked, I thought I wouldn’t make it. I didn’t want to drag you down too. Lee wouldn’t have wanted that either.” Kenny answered.  
“Who’s Lee?” Rebecca asked.  
“The greatest man I have ever met.” A voice responded to Rebecca’s question. We all turned to the voice, which turned out to be Clementine. I immediately stood up and walked over to her, “Clementine…? Are you okay?” I asked.   
Clementine nodded to me, “Yeah, I’m fine… I’m not hurt if that’s what you think.” Clementine answered coldly. Her eyes stared up at me unamused, but she looked somewhat traumatized   
“I-I’m glad…” I said a bit shaken by her tone. “I just… want to make sure you’re okay. We gotta stick together you know?” I said trying to lighten the mood.  
“Yeah…” Clementine said quietly.  
“So… what was Lee like?” Sarah asked all of us.   
I looked up at Nick for his input, but he barely even looked my way. I sighed and continued with everyone still watching me. “He was the bravest man we ever knew… he was strong, smart and amazing… He never gave up, even when things were bleak for him…”   
“He… got bit you see… and well despite that… he kept looking for Clementine…” Kenny finished.  
Everyone’s eyes were wide when they heard that, as if it was the most fantastic story they were ever told. Their eyes were glued to all three of us, I was afraid to even speak more… but Clementine continued for me.  
“Lee… saved me, in the end… I was the one who had to put him down…” Clementine’s sad eyes broke my heart as she spoke about Lee… she then went into her pocket and pulled out a picture. When I got a good look at it, I felt tears well up in my eyes. It was a picture of Lee… “This is all I have left of him…”   
“And that blood stain.” I tapped Clementine’s hat. “He got it when he was bit… it’s kind of like… a symbol I guess…” I strained my face to think of how to put it.   
“Like a badge?” Clementine asked.  
“Yeah, a badge. A badge of honor and hope. Lee bled for you so that you could continue on. His pain is your strength. The only reason you are alive is because of Lee… he risked everything for you, and in the end you are here.” I now looked up at Kenny. “Just like if it weren’t for Kenny… I wouldn’t be here right now.”   
After that the whole group became silent… a certain air of uncertainty fell on us… it was pretty uncomfortable… Nick looked at me first. He sighed and stood up walking over to the beds. He was obviously hurt by my confession… I immediately stood up and ran after him. “Nick?” my voice questioned him.  
He stopped midway in front of the bed area and turned to me, “You really did love him didn’t you…?” he asked, his voice jealous and obviously hurt.  
“It was a long time ago Nick…” I answered, my voice dry.  
“But the way you look at him… it’s as if you are in love with him.” Nick pouted.  
“I’m not… Not anymore Nick okay… I…” I paused and rubbed my face agitatedly. “I was weak then Nick… I turned to him because I was afraid. When you get scared you get attached to the nearest strong figure! I never told him how I felt at the time because… he lost his family… he lost them and I was afraid to say something!” I answered.  
“What about me? Is what you feel for me a sign of weakness?” he asked me offended.  
“NO! Don’t be ridiculous! What I feel for you is real Nick! I love you… I love you more than anyone in this whole world.” I turned his face towards me, allowing his eyes to focus on mine. “For the longest time I have felt close to you. Afraid to say anything because I was scared you would reject me… and it’s not like I can just pass you and pretend it never happened!”   
“But what about Kenny?!” Nick asked me.  
“WHAT ABOUT KENNY?!” I was yelling at this point. I looked to the side to see the others staring at us. But I didn’t care, I had to put my foot down. I bit my lip agitatedly and glared at him, “You are acting like a baby! Stop getting hung up on this okay?! You are taking this all out of context! If I wanted to be with Kenny I would have left with him right then and there!”   
“Why haven’t you?!” he asked me suddenly.  
“Because… because I have you… what will it take for me to prove to you that I love you?” I asked him, I could feel the tears reaching my cheeks.  
“Tell me you still don’t love him…” Nick now responded. His voice strained and worried. It seemed that he was on the verge of tears as well.  
I was so shocked, I didn’t know how to answer that, of course I didn’t still love Kenny, right?... Why would I… it’s been two years… I’ve moved past that… but why is it everytime I look at Kenny I feel both joy and pain? Of course I loved Nick… but what did I feel for Kenny? “I love you and only you…” I answered him finally.  
Nick was silent for a few seconds… and then he sighed, “Your hesitation says otherwise…” he walked towards a different row of shelves. “Where are you going?” I asked him now with tears streaming down my cheeks.  
Nick didn’t even look back at me. “I need to sleep alone tonight…” Nick said coldly.  
“No! Nick! Don’t do this to me!” I cried to him. Nick didn’t listen though… he crawled into that bed and just fell asleep… as if I didn’t exist… the others look at me, but looked away as soon as I turned to them… I felt the frustration reach my throat as I wanted to just scream at him… but I knew at this point there was no use. That Nick had made up his mind. I crumbled into a heap on the ground and fell to my knees. My body shook, my mind felt blank as I punched the ground in sadness and anger. Curses uttered out of my mouth as I struggled to let go of the pain that welled up inside of me. I heard footsteps come towards me and stop next to me. I finally heard a calm voice sigh and say, “C’mon now… let’s go.” It was Kenny… it just had to be Kenny… he helped me to my feet and patted my back, “Go ahead and rest. It’s going to be a long night…”   
I stood up and stared at Nick’s back… it seemed as though he was going to be that way for the rest of the night. I let out a brief sigh as I laid down on the wooden surface. My mind wandering as I rested my back on the hard surface. My hand self consciously reaching for the necklace around my neck… the one Nick got for me. My thumb rubbed it mindlessly… my eyes getting heavy trying to forget all that has happened. Eventually I fell asleep… my body cold from the lack of Nick next to me… it was hard for me to even stay asleep… I kept waking up throughout the night… I didn’t know what to do anymore… I felt more lost than when Kenny left me alone that one day…  
I kept thinking back to our first fishing trip… that one moment when I realized just how much I had feelings for him…

“Are you always going to be this slow?” Nick asked me with a sharp snap.  
“Are you always going to be this insufferable?” I snapped back.  
“Alright you two, calm down. You both are acting like children!” Pete yelled at both of us. It was always Pete who put us in line. He just had that fatherly figure to him.   
It had been a few weeks since I joined the Cabin group. For some reason I always ended up doing chores with Nick. Usually it was Nick, Pete, Luke and I who did the fishing and hunting… but lately, Luke has been staying behind… I guess they wanted to have an extra hand around for Rebecca’s safety. She was showing more and more signs of pregnancy. She was at the stage where she was more uncomfortable as the days went on. God, pregnancy sounds horrible…  
We reached the stream, Pete pulling at the fish traps, reeling them in so that he could get a better look to see if we caught any fish.  
“So?” Nick asked anticipating.  
Pete stared at the fish traps annoyed, “Not much for us to eat… looks like we’re going to have to manually fish today.” Pete answered us. It was the first time I ever had to learn how to fish… usually Nick and Pete just leave fish traps and we all have to retrieve them… I was scared that Nick would point out the fact I was a city girl. I didn’t know much about fishing and really had no idea how to handle it… but it couldn’t be that hard right?   
Boy was I wrong… when Pete handed me the fishing pole, he seemed to think I knew what I was doing. Nick casted his line, put his fish bucket down and looked at me briefly, before looking back at his pole. Pete hooked his line and then threw it out into the water. I was still struggling to hook the bait to the hook. My stupid city self squeamish about stabbing the poor worm. It was a few minutes before I heard Nick behind me.   
“Christ, are you still struggling with that thing?!” Nick groaned and bent down next to me. “Here, give me that…” Nick took the hook out of my hand and stabbed the worm with it. He shoved the pole in my hand, stood up and walked back to his pole.   
I felt embarrassed standing there like a rookie, I tried to throw the line out but kept getting the line hooked up and tangled. Pete now noticing me, started to laugh as if he saw the funniest thing in the world.  
“Lord, girlie, you are hopeless!” he put down his pole, but Nick interjected, “I got her Uncle Pete… Jesus, I’m never going to get any peace with this hopeless idiot.” Nick groaned grabbing the pole out of my hand again.  
“Look, you need to take the pole and toss it outwards like this…” Nick made a motion like he was throwing the line with the pole. I looked at him confused, obviously lost. Nick rolled his eyes now, and got behind me. “Here.” He grabbed my hands with his and firmly grasped them, moving them to wherever he wanted. I felt my face grow red realizing how close he was to me. I watched Nick’s hands as he tried to control my motion. He had rough hands, definitely not soft at all, but there was something rugged and controlling about them. Still… he held my hands softly as if he would a lover. This idea made my heart jump. My distraction by Nick’s form was interrupted by his commanding voice next to my ear, he spoke light enough to not scream in my ear, but still loud enough to command my full attention.   
“Alright… you just grip it like this… and toss it out like…” Nick held my hands firmly against the pole as he casted my hands outward towards the stream, my line going into the water. “…that.” Nick let out an amused snort. “You got that?” he asked me, turning towards me so that my eyes met his. I was so dumbfounded by just how attractive Nick was… my whole face was hot at that moment… the sudden realization washed over me. I really liked Nick… I didn’t love him… but I was attracted to him… he was so different. Mindnumbingly, I nodded to him, my mouth hanging wide open. Nick pushed my chin up closing my mouth, “Don’t draw flies.” He said annoyed, walking back to his area, holding his pole up again.   
It was at that moment that I realized just how much I felt for Nick… How much I really did grow to appreciate him… but at the same time… I was so scared of getting close to him…  
But now… I’m scared of losing him… I could feel the overwhelming fear of losing Nick bubble in my stomach. That anxiety just threatening me as I lie awake. I couldn’t face the fear inside, I couldn’t think of it because if I did it would ruin me… the cold autumn wind was blowing… it was turning to winter and soon enough we all would begin to struggle to stay alive in the snow. I turned on my side to face Nick… who was now facing me… my eyes lit up as I watched him stare at me. His eyes seemed to show remorse… but also… sadness. I looked back at him sympathetically. As I looked at his cold blue eyes, I finally had the answer he wanted… I didn’t love Kenny… I didn’t love Kenny as a man. But as a father figure…  
I sat up in bed and looked back at Nick, who now looked at me shocked, his body moving with mine. We both stood up at the same time. Avoiding waking up anyone… we walked over to a corner of the cell, hoping to get some privacy. I didn’t know what time it was… only that the morning light was already threatening to peak beyond the clouds. We were silent as we stood next to the large gate.   
“Nick… I’m sorry about ear-“ I tried to get out first but Nick suddenly interrupted. 

“No, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t doubt you like that… I’m sorry…” Nick looked at me pathetically, like a lost puppy who just rummaged through the trash.

“Nick… you shouldn’t have to question our relationship… if you are not happy with me the-“ Again, Nick interrupted. 

“No, you do make me happy, Jess. I’m just… a jealous idiot who gets envious when his wife talks fondly about another man. I don’t want to lose you because I’m stupid, okay?” Nick put his hands on my shoulders, trying make sense of it. 

“What do I do that makes you happy…?” I asked him  
“You are alive… I mean… you live life the way you want, you give happiness a whole new meaning… never before have I met someone who is so… deep so emotional. You give me things to think about, you give me reasons to keep moving.” Nick answered me tears coming to his cheeks. “I never have met someone who has cared so much about me outside of my Uncle and Mom…”  
“What about Luke?” I asked him curiously.

“I mean, Luke listens… but you take it all in. It’s like you are understanding everything I am telling you. For me that’s the happiest you can make me, is just listening and never giving up on me. You never once gave up, even when I do crappy things like this… so I’m sorry okay?” Nick said pleading me. 

“Nick…” I uttered out weakly. My body was quick to hug him desperately. “I’m so sorry, Nick… I want you to know one thing.” I looked him in the eyes. “I love you. Only you. What I feel for Kenny is more like a daughter to a father. I love him but not in any other way than platonically.” I smiled up at him, to which he smiled down at me warmly.

“I love you too Jess…” Nick held me close to his warm and comforting body. Our bodies stayed still for the longest time… sleep never even crossing our minds. “I will keep you safe, Jess… as long as I continue to breathe, I’ll keep you from harm.” Nick whispered in my ear, quietly reassuring me that I wasn’t alone anymore…


	10. Chapter 10

Faraway Part 10:  
Vince got me to work with him early the next day. I was still struggling to keep my eyes open as I worked. He had me working on organizing all the medical supplies. Vince kept looking my way, as if he was making sure that I wasn’t moving away, or something. It was weird… but also kind of sweet. I mean, I know he was interested in me… which is what I feared… I like Vince, but not in the same way that he likes me. It was an eerie silence between us. Vince had no idea what to say it seemed. After about 10 minutes of pure silence, Vince spoke up. 

“Hey… that leather jacket sure is coming in handy.” I heard his chipper voice say.  
I turned to him shyly, “Y-yeah… it’s really warm thanks…”   
“Do you guys need blankets out there?” Vince asked.  
“A-ah… no… I don’t want to get you into trouble…” I said softly.

“No, it’s fine… after all if we think you guys are on good behavior we can give you some supplies.” Vince said sweetly.

I thought about it for a second before answering… sure I would be warmer, but not everyone would be… we all would be cold. Kenny is fit as well as Sarita, Clem has that puffy blue coat now… The only ones who would probably appreciate it are Nick, Rebecca, Sarah and Carlos… since Sarah sleeps with Carlos it would be better that way. “I only need 3 blankets.” I smiled at Vince.  
“Three? For just you?” Vince asked.   
“No… I’m fine… I just want some of the others to be warmer. In case you didn’t notice… some members of our group is really cold. I need one for Nick, Rebecca, Sarah and Carlos. But since Sarah and Carlos bunk together, they could share it.” I smiled at Vince.

Vince looked at me stunned and then smiled broadly, “You really are something… are you always this selfless?” Vince asked.

“ I try to be.” I answered. I still felt uncomfortable with the idea that Vince had a thing for me…  
Vince suddenly turned me around to face him, he had a smile spread across his face. “There’s something I really want to tell you… I know it’s a bit soon… but.” Vince took out something in his back pocket. “I um… really like you.” Vince grinned from ear to ear. “I was hoping that maybe, I can… get to know you more? I mean, maybe I can convince Carver to let me spend more time with you.” He held out his hand and showed me a key. 

“This is the key to the backroom. I want you to have it… if you ever need your things… just ask and I’ll cause a distraction.” Vince smiled at me.  
His kindness broke my heart, because I knew he was only doing this to make me happy. I felt horrible taking anything from him. “Vince I-“ I tried to get out but one of the guards radioed him.   
“Vince, is the foxy ginger with you?” I heard Russel’s voice call out on the radio.   
Vince’s face grimaced as he answered, “Yeah… she’s here. What do you need?” Vince asked.

“Carver wants her on the roof. She’s working the garden. I gotta watch her.” Russel said calmly.  
Vince sighed and let out a long pause, “Right… I’ll send her your way.” Vince answered. He looked my way and gave me one more smile, “You heard him… you better get going before Carver finds another reason to be mad at you. I’ll talk to you later okay? Just… consider my offer.” Vince responded sweetly.  
“Yeah… I’ll see you later Vince.” I offered a smile at him, to which he responded kindly back. I then remembered about the blankets and turned back to him, “Hey, can you deliver the blankets later on? I want to give them out.” I said  
Vince smiled and nodded at me, “Sure, I’ll come back by light’s out.” Vince smiled at me again.  
“Thanks Vince.” I nodded to him and opened the door to the back room where Russel was waiting for me on the other end. 

“Hey,” Russel simply said. 

“Hey yourself.” I snorted offering a smirk, Russel smirking back at me just as sassily. Although I haven’t seen Russel in a while, it was nice to know he had a bit of a soft spot for me.   
We walked all the way up to the roof, the cold air hitting us in the face as soon as we stepped outside. “Jesus, could it get any colder?” I asked him.

“Just wait. It’s gonna be hard living out in the prison in these conditions… I don’t envy you.” Russel answered.  
“Gee, thanks.” I responded annoyed.  
“Don’t take it the wrong way. I’m just saying, I hope Carver forgives you guys before winter comes. It’s only a matter of time now.” Russel walked me to this green house and nodded me to go inside.  
“You’re working on the food today. Seems as though Carver is expecting a lot of you…” Russel said suspiciously.  
“I’m not sure if I should be flattered or cautious.” I said giving him a strange look.  
“I would prefer the latter honestly.” Russel chimed in.  
“Yeah, no kidding…” my voice drifted in thought. I never really bothered asking Russel what his back story was… or any of the others for that matter. I knew Russel had to watch me work… but still… I wanted to know more about him. As I plucked away at the fruits and vegetables I turned to him, “Hey… what’s your story anyway, Russ?” I asked.  
“Why? What does it matter?” Russel responded coldly.  
“It would be nice to carry on your legacy. Maybe carry the stories of survivors across the world… I want to record everyone’s story.” I smiled at him.  
Russel looked back at me shocked, unsure of how he should respond. “It’s not really a happy one.” Russel muttered.  
“Whose life story isn’t a bit tragic?” I shrugged at him, offering a sympathetic smile.  
Russel sighed and looked at his AK-47 that he kept at his side at all times. “My parents died when I was young. You know, basic orphan story…” he snorted amused. “Anyway, my grandma pretty much raised me from birth. I lived with her in Athens until I graduated High School… I remember it well… I was just starting my spring semester classes at UGA when it happened. I watched as a guy bit this girl’s neck… tore the skin right off of it.” Russel shook his head, like he was trying to shake the image out of his head, “I booked it out of town, leaving all of my stuff behind. I was able to find a few articles of clothing from an empty clothing store. I booked it towards Macon, in search of my Grandma. But I stayed with a group at first…” Russel shook disgusted. “But… that guy was a power hungry maniac.”   
“You aren’t doing much better with Carver you know.” I responded.   
“When you’ve been on the road as long as we have… you tend to take what you can get.” Russel stared down at his gun in deep thought, “You have the freedom to question. You have nothing to lose. But everyone of us has everything to lose. We’re not bad people, just people trying to make it out here. In case you forgot… our world is no longer a free place. It’s just… a big prison. We’re living in a place where we either suffer or we die trying.” Russel stated.  
“You could always leave Howe’s you know… or overthrow Carver.” I chuckled to myself.  
“Yeah, sure. That’ll work out great.” Russel said sarcastically, his face looked at me half amused and half annoyed. “In case you forgot, Carver has more people in this camp that look up to him then people who hate him. Or rather, more people are willing to just shut up and take the abuse than they are willing to stand up to him. Last time people stood up to him we had some casualties. Things just work better when everyone is willing to work together.” Russel shrugged.  
“But you shouldn’t have to question the people who are supposed to be keeping you safe. I mean, I know Luke is independent, and who knows what else happened… but something brought all of them together, and something made them want to leave. In the end, I don’t blame them for what happened. I’m sorry that you lost people, but I think they made the right choice in leaving. I doubt that Carver had any real reason to care that they left anyway… people move on all the time.” I stated honestly.  
“Maybe. But that doesn’t mean that they should have done it.” Russel stated simply.   
I mumbled to myself, “Maybe not…” it was silent for a few seconds until I spoke again, “Why did they leave in the first place?” I turned to him.  
Russel snorted, “Two reasons… One… Rebecca and two… because Luke hates authority.” Russel answered.  
“Rebecca?” I asked now confused.  
“Yeah, Rebecca and Carver got together. In case you didn’t notice.”   
“I heard him shouting nonsense about a baby… but I didn’t think he meant…” I trailed off, “I don’t know what he meant, but I tried to convince myself it wasn’t that!” I looked at him pained.  
“Don’t think too heavily on it. Just know that Rebecca really didn’t have a choice…” Russel looked at me grimly.   
My face paled as I looked at him, I felt nauseous all of a sudden. Poor Alvin…   
Russel’s radio blurred and someone’s voice called out, “Hey, Russ… it’s time to clock in for the prisoners. Bring the ginger down to the prison area.” Someone said.  
“Yeah, I got it.” Russel responded dryly. He put away the radio and looked back at me, a smirk reaching his face, “Well it looks like you actually got a lot done up here.”   
“Multitasking is in my blood.” I laughed walking out of the greenhouse with him.   
“Don’t tell anyone what we talked about… I’d rather not have Carver put me on his hit list.” Russel said coldly. “No offense.”   
“Yeah… I get it. I don’t want you to get into trouble. I’ll keep my mouth shut.” I looked back at him with a smile.  
“You know. You’re alright.” Russel said suddenly.  
“Oh, I’m only alright huh? You spent all this time telling me your life story and I am only valid for an ‘alright’ status?” I joked with him.  
“Don’t be too offended. Consider it a compliment, I don’t like a lot of people. People suck.” Russel said sharply.  
I giggled, “Indeed. People do suck.”   
We walked back to the prison area, with the rest of the group there, everyone looked worn and torn, like they were just stuck in a mine for hours. They all were dirty, sweaty and struggling to stay awake. I felt bad for all of them. I guess I got the easier jobs today…  
Russel closed the door behind me and didn’t say a word, only gave me an acknowledged nod. I nodded back, giving a slight smile his way. Russel then walked away leaving all of us to ourselves, I stood by the door waiting on Vince to come by. He promised me those blankets. I intended to give them out to all the people who didn’t have a jacket on… Just as I was about to give up on finding Vince, I saw him come towards the door with an armful of blankets. “Hey!” he whispered at me excitedly. “I got your blankets here… you still want them?” he asked me softly.  
“Yeah, just hand them to me quickly!” I said in hushed voice.  
Vince nodded, “Alright.” Vince opened the door just enough to hand me the blankets underneath the door, I grabbed them and smiled up at him, “Thanks Vince… you’re great!” I said smiling widely.  
“I know.” Vince teased, “I’ll see you later. Keep warm okay?” Vince said now turning around and running off back to where he came from.   
As I turned back with all of the blankets, I heard Nick speak up, “Hey, whatcha got there?” he asked.  
I smiled up at him, “I got blankets for the few of us who don’t have jackets or sweaters. I was able to convince Vince to help me nab some.” I walked over to the fire pit and handed Rebecca the first one, “You don’t need to be cold out here, Rebecca…” I patted her back as she took the blanket in hand.  
“N-no, the rest of you should have it.” Rebecca said modestly.  
“No, please, we’re fine.” Kenny spoke up for the rest of them.  
“Besides, you have a baby to think about.” Sarita chimed in.  
“Please, Rebecca, I want you to have it. I promise you’ll have a better night’s sleep.” I smiled down at her.  
“Oh sweetheart… thank you. This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a while.” Rebecca gave me a hug, which I returned with my free hand.   
I then walked over to Carlos and handed him his blanket, “Hey, you and Sarah barely have enough warmth to keep going. It’s only going to get colder, you two should share a blanket.” I handed Carlos one.  
“Are you sure?” Carlos asked looking at my dwindling pile of blankets.  
“Yes, you and Sarah take it. You gotta look after her. But you need to worry about yourself, Doc. In case you didn’t notice… you are hardly wearing anything warm.” I said.  
“You’re right…” Carlos looked at Sarah, offering a smile, then looked up at me. “Thank you.” His expression showed a soft and sweet side to Carlos I rarely saw.  
I handed the last one to Nick who looked up at me shocked, “Are you sure?” he asked.  
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I smiled at him. “I want you to be warm, Nick…” I kissed his forehead.  
“What about you?” Nick asked.  
“I’ll be fine. I have a leather coat on. I don’t need a blanket.” I nodded at Nick giving him the notion that I was okay.  
Nick scratched the back of his head, “I just… feel bad that others won’t have a blanket on them. I mean what about Clementine?” Nick looked over at the young girl who only shook her head at Nick’s question.  
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been in worse.” Clementine smiled at him.  
“I would have gotten more for everyone. But well… I didn’t want to ask for too much you know?” I said smiling down at all of them.   
“Truly, we appreciate it Jessica.” Carlos looked up at me with his tired eyes. It was obvious he wasn’t in any condition to do much of anything.  
“Speaking of blankets, I think we should get some sleep.” Kenny said to everyone.  
“Yeah… we haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a week. Maybe we should enjoy what little time we have now to settle in.”  
“It’s kind of early though…” Carlos said raising an eyebrow.  
“Alright, let’s pass the time then!” Sarita chimed in sweetly.  
“Anyone got a story?” Kenny asked.  
We all were silent for a long time, until Nick chimed in, “Jessica probably has one. She likes telling stories.” He smiled at me.  
“Tell a fantasy story!!” Sarah jumped up excitedly.  
I giggled at her enthusiasm. “Sorry hun, but I don’t know any on the top of my head.” I thought for a second of a story I could tell… then it hit me.   
“I’m better about stories about real life anyway…” I smiled at Nick before continuing, “This particular story is about… well a man that I love more than anything in the world, and this was the night that I realized I had feelings for him and… when I think he had feelings for me too.” I looked at Nick again.

_____________________

Sunset. It always was the most calming time of the day next to dawn. It was that time that happened when you knew night was bound to fall on you. It was that time when you could snuggle by the fire and just listen to the crickets. I remember where I was at that time… I was with Nick and we were on the porch of the cabin. The cicadas were hissing and buzzing in the trees, their presence always indicated summer. We had just gotten done with our daily chores for the day. The stars were flickering above us, while the sky became less and less vibrant with light. Luke stepped outside amid our silence and sighed, “Hey, I forgot a couple of fish traps at the stream. Could you two go get it?” Luke asked both of us.  
“Why can’t you ask Uncle Pete to do it?” Nick asked annoyed.  
“Because he’s helping me with the deer we caught. We aren’t exactly gaining any sunlight at this rate. C’mon man, you gotta help out too. Take Jess with you if you’re worried.” Luke grimaced at his lazy friend.  
“Whatever.” Nick stood up and walked towards the stream, my tiny body following after him. The light was fading, and my fear was bubbling inside my belly. I wanted to hide.   
“How far are we from there now?” I asked Nick in a hushed whisper.  
“Should be about a few more yards. “ Nick responded.  
It was quiet before I spoke up again, things between me and Nick at that point were pretty tense and slow… it wasn’t like we were getting along as well as we could have, or rather that Nick seemed to be avoiding me at this point… it was a hard fact to swallow and made me fear for the worst.   
Finally he spoke, “It’s summer now…” he said simply.  
“Yeah, it is.” I responded quietly. I noticed the tank top I was wearing smelled of walker blood. Something I should be used to by now but I still didn’t want to think about it. I looked back at Nick’s figure which was only a few feet ahead from me. Despite the darkness surrounding us, I saw his figure perfectly. His strong arms shown threw his blue T-shirt. His cargo pants made his legs look more skinny then he probably realized. He looks like a chicken in those shorts… I giggled at the thought.  
“What?” Nick turned back to me annoyed.  
“Nothing, just that you look like a dork with shorts on.” I nudged him.  
“What? You’ve seen me in shorts now for weeks. Now you say something?” he asked.  
“I never had a chance to look at your legs before.” I teased.  
“What? What’s wrong with my legs?” Nick stopped and stared down at his legs offended.  
“They look like Chicken’s legs.” I teased him again.  
Nick looked back up at me and examined my body now, obviously looking for an insult. But he just pouted in retaliation and walked off. “Shut up.” His face was red as he walked past me. I giggled again at his obvious embarrassment.   
“You also have a tiny butt. It’s a shame really.” I continued.  
Nick now whirled around and glared at me, his face cherry red at this point. “S-stop looking at my backside would you?!” He hissed, obviously wanting to yell, but the fear of attracting walkers stopped him short.  
“J-just leave my body alone!” he said annoyed.  
I chuckled softly at him, “You’re not that bad… I’m just teasing…” I said smiling at his back. “In fact, I think you’re pretty good looking... Besides, looks only get you so far.” I teased him.  
“Yeah… yeah…” Nick sighed. A few minutes later we reached the fish traps.“Here we are… we just gotta get the fish and replace them for the next batch.” Nick nodded to me. “Got all that?” he asked.  
“Yeah… I’ve done this with you before.”I said annoyed.  
“And yet I still have to remind you.” Nick answered bluntly.  
“Sorry for being from the city…” I muttered.  
After a few minutes we had gathered all the fish in the buckets and replaced the traps. Nick nudged me before I stood up , “I’m coming… you don’t need to nudge me.” I said annoyed.  
“No… that’s not what I want.” Nick said.  
“Then what is it?” I asked looking at him. His eyes were glued to the stream, which forced me to look up. My jaw dropped at the sight, my body quickly jolting up. “Nick… their…”  
“Fireflies…” Nick smiled briefly.   
“We used to catch these as kids when I was younger… I tried to keep one as a pet. But… It died over night.” I chuckled sadly.   
“The first harsh lesson every kid faces when they are young…” Nick solemnly responded.  
“Yeah…” I said mindlessly. My eyes focused on the fireflies, how softly they floated in the air… their little lights aglow. My heart fluttered at the sight, the whole stream was lit up by each and every firefly. I couldn’t stop smiling or looking away from the scene. As I was engulfed in the warm lights surrounding us… I felt a warmth reach out to my hand. I jumped, startled, but I looked up at him… at Nick. Our eyes met briefly, my eyes never straying from his. He had a smile on his face that said it all. My hand limply dangling as Nick intertwined his fingers with mine. My heart was thumping through my chest. But I couldn’t pull away… Nick never said a word the whole time he did this… but I only responded by holding his hand firmly in mine as well. Our eyes looked back at the fireflies a warm and gentle feeling overwhelmed our senses. The only sounds in those few minutes we were there were of crickets and cicadas… singing to us. The warmth of the summer air enthralled me and beckoned me to stay there with Nick… We stayed there for probably half an hour if I had to wager a guess… we forgot everything around us. We forgot the walkers, the death, the empty world that surrounded us. Throughout the whole time we were there we held hands. It was at that point that I realized that we were meant for each other. But I was still afraid to even have any amount of affection and love for him… in the end though… I think that moment sealed the deal for us. Every interaction between us afterwards was of pure affection, with a bit of teasing here and there of course...Whenever I saw Nick’s eyes from that point on… my heart would thump against my chest rapidly. His eyes always had a way to make me weak to my knees. Just… the pure icy blue color to them that really made my heart leap.  
Nick smiled at me one last time before speaking again, “Let’s head back… it’s going to be a long walk if we don’t go now.” He said.  
“You’re right…” I muttered softly. “Let’s… go back.” My hand hesitantly refused to let go of his as we walked away together with the fish in the buckets… I remember Pete and Luke interrogating us, but we just… brushed it off as if nothing happened. It was a small moment between us that seemed so small now, but at the time it was that silent and gentle touch that allowed us to just acknowledge each other… our feelings…  
Nick scratched the back of his neck, “It took all of me not to tell you how I felt at that exact moment.” He said pathetically.  
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked him curiously.  
“I almost did, I near kissed you…” Nick grinned and looked down shyly.  
“What stopped you?” Mike asked him.  
“I was afraid of getting close to anyone at that point… I mean I was still mourning the loss of my mother…” Nick looked at me guiltily.  
“Hey, it’s getting late everyone.” Carlos said looking at his watch. “You should all probably sleep.” He nodded at all of us, and then stood up, taking Sarah’s hand. “C’mon sweetie.”   
“Yeah… let’s get some shut eye.” I smiled up at Nick, who smiled back holding the blanket up.  
I was the first one in bed, so I just laid there moving over for Nick. To my surprise I felt a cloth wrap around me, I jolted up and stared at Nick shocked realizing it was the blanket I gave him, “N-no! Nick, please… you need it more than me!” I said trying to persuade him.   
“Please, you are more precious to me than anything… I want to share it with you…” Nick smiled broadly.  
“But it would be better if you had it…” I said trying to persuade him.  
He shook his head, “Nope, you can’t fool me.” He chuckled. “In case you forgot, I’m pretty stubborn when I want something.” He raised his eyebrows defiantly.  
I sighed, giving into his demands, “Fine… but you get most of it.” I insisted.  
“We share, and that’s that.” Nick got underneath the blanket with me and laid next to me gently. He immediately wrapped his arms around me tightly and pressed his forehead against mine, smiling widely, “I love you… Jess.” He kissed my head and closed his eyes. I felt my face bury into his chest, his same soft and calming heart beat putting me to sleep… I felt myself drift to sleep as I was engulfed in Nick’s warmth. This is one of the things that made life worth living for… this pure happiness is what kept me going…


	11. Chapter 11

Faraway: Part 11  
The next day was hard. The whole time since I woke up I was nauseous… there was even a period where I couldn’t stop throwing up… I don’t know what happened, but after about an hour of feeling sick they finally sent me to Carlos… Vince insisted.  
Carlos was with the rest of the medical supplies, he seemed to be the permanent doctor for the group despite being just a “prisoner.” It was a pain… I didn’t know what was wrong with me… I’ve never felt this before…  
Carlos greeted me at the door when I knocked. “Come in.” he gestured inside.   
“Thanks Carlos…” I said weakly.  
“So… you’re too sick even for Carver, that’s a surprise.” Carlos said sincerely. Carlos sat me down on a table and took out his clipboard. “So… what seems to be the problem.”   
“I’ve been feeling terrible since I woke up Carlos… I don’t understand it.” I said.  
“I see, please describe what you are feeling.” Carlos said very calculating.  
“Well… I’ve been nauseous all day… I haven’t eaten since last night, and that was just a can of beans. Maybe I’m just exhausted because for some reason, I’m tired all the time too… like, I’m struggling to stay awake even now.” I answered him.  
Carlos wrote down on his clip board and looked at me suspiciously. “… Do you have any cravings?” he asked me.  
“For some reason I want peanut butter and chips… is that normal?” I asked confused. “Maybe they have been working me hard.” I chuckled light heartedly.  
Carlos didn’t even budge, he didn’t smile or show any light heartedness to his face. Just a stern… and almost concerned look. “What about your breasts… how do they feel?” Carlos asked all of a sudden.  
“H-huh? What kind of question is that?!” I asked annoyed.   
“Just tell me… I’m a professional, Jessica. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.” Carlos looked at me with his sincere eyes. His face lightened up just a bit, enough to show he was in fact concerned for my well being.  
“I-I don’t know… they kind of hurt now that you mention it…” I linked my hands together nervously and played with my finger nail, tearing off pieces of it.  
Carlos now cleared his throat and sighed, “… Jessica… I’m not sure how to tell you this.”   
“Oh God…” I covered my mouth. “Am I… dying?” I asked him scared.  
Carlos stood up now and placed his hands on my shoulder, “No!” he said excitedly, “…nothing quite this extreme… quite the opposite actually.” Carlos tried to offer a smile.  
I stared at him confused for a minute… unsure of what he was trying to say, then it hit me. That glaring realization that I didn’t even let cross my mind. “Oh my God…” I covered my mouth again. “Am I…?”  
“You’re pregnant Jessica…” Carlos smiled slightly. “Congratulations.”   
“Oh my god…” I only got out. “You mean… I have to bring a baby into this world?” I asked him shocked.  
Carlos looked at me grimly, “Yes… I suppose you do…” he sighed, “It won’t be so terrible… I’m sure you and Nick can-“  
“H-how did you know it was Nick’s baby?” I asked blushing.  
“He’s the only man you have ever been with yes?” Carlos raised an eyebrow.  
“Y-yes… I just… get embarrassed thinking that you figured out that we… um…” I blushed.  
“It’s a part of life, I don’t find it embarrassing…” Carlos chuckled a bit. “You really are strange.” He turned around and handed me a pamphlet. “Now… strangely enough they have pamphlets here about pregnancy… I figured this is your first time being pregnant… and I want you to have a general idea of what to do.” Carlos smiled. “I also think you should tell Nick…”  
I sighed, “Yeah… I guess I should huh…” I scratched the back of my head, “I just don’t know how to go about doing it…”  
Carlos placed his hands on my shoulders, “Just be honest with him… tell him the truth.”   
“But Carlos… I’m scared that he’ll freak out. After all, he’s scared of losing someone else, and I don’t want this baby to be the next someone else…” I stood up now facing the door.  
“He’ll find out anyway… you need to tell him now before anything goes wrong.” Carlos answered.  
“Wrong?” I asked my eyebrows shot up questioning him.  
“Yes… you could have complications if you are not careful… you need to take it a bit easier from now on. If you want to keep the child that is.” Carlos answered my question.  
“… If? If I want to keep my child?” I now turned his attention to me. “Carlos…?”  
Carlos was silent for a second and then sighed, “…. I don’t want anything wrong happening to your child… but I also fear what will happen to the baby… it’s not easy raising a child in this world, especially not now. I’m starting to question our decision to leave.” Carlos shook his head.  
“Why? Why should this change our plans Carlos?” I asked him.  
“Because you are caring for two, not just one anymore. You can’t survive on your own out there! “ Carlos snapped.  
“Yeah, but Carlos, if we stay here, what if I make Carver mad… huh? What if I made him so mad we have a repeat of a couple of nights ago? You remember how I almost had a panic attack?” I asked Carlos annoyed.  
Carlos sighed, “Yes… I remember. All I ask is that you be careful Jessica… Carver won’t think twice about harming you if he thinks you are bearing a child. Especially since you both created said child here at the store… “ Carlos folded his arms.  
“… You knew huh?” I asked him.  
“You didn’t have time to really do anything… and Nick knows his way around the store. Let’s just say it was inevitable.” Carlos now opened the door for me. “I think you should give your husband the news first. You wouldn’t want to keep him waiting with something like this.”   
I looked at him before leaving, I sighed and nodded, “Thanks Carlos…” I smiled and walked out.  
“Don’t sweat it…” Carlos smiled back at me.   
I walked out of the room and headed for the prison area. But first I was stopped by Wyatt, “Hey man.” He greeted me.  
“Hey Wyatt. Got me working already?” I asked him.  
“Yeah, Carver wants you to deliver this box to the guys working on the wall. It’s filled with all of the tools they’ll need.” Wyatt handed me the box and nodded towards the door, “Get moving, or Carver will bite both of our heads off.”   
“Fair point.” I said walking towards the door. I wanted to tell Nick what was going on. But I guess that news was going to have to wait. I walked outside with the box, getting a good look at my surroundings. The door led to an outside area that was covered by a large wall. The barrier was half hazardly built and looked unsteady. So apparently they had someone improve on it every day.   
“Safe and fortified my foot…” I muttered to myself.  
“Hey! Stop mutterin’ to yerself and keep moving!” Troy screamed at me from atop the roof. His Ak-47 was resting on his arm cautiously.   
‘Oh great… HE’S on duty…’ I thought to myself in disgust. I shuffled my feet towards the end of the fenced off area, to what looked to be an old shoe store. Kenny and Mike stood there impatiently folding their arms.  
“Hey, sweetheart.” Kenny greeted me.  
“Hey, Ken. Got the magical tools for you boys.” I teased.  
“Of course, thanks hun.” Kenny patted my head.  
“Seems like Carver is putting you into more menial work these days.” Mike commented, taking a hammer out of the box.  
“I’d rather work then be yelled at. Hey… maybe he’ll like me one day.” I joked.   
Kenny shot me a glare and shook his head, “Don’t think about staying here…” Kenny said annoyed.  
“Why not…?” I asked. I honestly was questioning it, now that I knew that I was in fact caring for another life now… Kenny looked at me disgusted now. “Because, you were almost killed remember? Over a diary?!” Kenny almost shouted.  
“Yeah… well…” I couldn’t come up with a thing to say… he was right, I knew he was, but I was also fearful of my very life. Both options looked grim at this point… and made me question my morality on the whole issue. I knew that I would have to choose either way… I knew that I would have to ask Nick what he felt would be best… after announcing my pregnancy of course. I sighed to myself, nervously rubbing the back of my neck. “Look Kenny…” I started but then bit my lip again. I couldn’t force out the words that I wanted to say. I knew that it was a bad idea to argue with Kenny right now, I knew that if I did, I would regret it. So instead I sighed and nodded at him. “I’ll talk to you about it later, okay? I gotta get back before they find a reason to yell at me.”   
Kenny nodded, defeated, “Yeah… just keep your head low, hun. You don’t need to get yourself hurt, alright?” Kenny said scratching his beard in thought.  
“Yeah…” I walked out of the store and mumbled to myself, “Especially now…”   
As I made my way back towards the hardware store, I was stopped by what sounded like a voice beckoning me. “…essica…”  
I jumped and turned around startled, I was silent for a second but called out to the voice quietly, “….hello?”   
I then heard it again, “Jessica!” a hushed voice called out to me.   
“Who’s there?” I asked nervously.  
“Who do you think! It’s Luke!”   
“Luke…?” I whispered shocked. Just then, I saw Luke’s face peek out from behind the comic book store’s door. Just as I approached him, he pulled me into a hug, closing the door behind us. “Oh God, I’m so glad you’re alright!” Luke said happily.  
“I’m glad to see you too Luke…” I pushed him back, “Where have you been?”   
“What happened to your hair?” Luke now suddenly asked, reaching for my hair.  
“I asked you first.” I put his hand down.  
“I got into a fight with Kenny… and wasn’t thinking straight, when I came back you guys were gone, and I saw Carver’s truck in the distance… I knew where he was taking you, so for the past few days I have been tracking the truck. “ he said quickly.  
“Oh… no wonder you look terrible…” I said sympathetically.   
Luke’s eyes strained to stay open, and his skin was pale, like he was drained of any life left in him. His giant bags under his eyes told me that he didn’t have any sleep in days.   
“Yeah… now you tell me… what happened to your hair?” he now asked me.  
“Oh… Apparently Carver’s secret dream is to be a barber.” I said sarcastically.  
“Sorry… I should have been here sooner.” Luke said sadly.  
“Don’t worry about it. So what are you doing here?” I asked him.  
“What do you mean?” he asked.  
“I mean… you could have just left us behind… I’m sure you would have been better off alone…” I said sadly, folding my arms.  
“Don’t be ridiculous. I am not leaving you guys behind. In fact… I’m gonna bust you out of here.” Luke smiled at me.  
“W-what?” I said shocked.  
“You heard me! I got a plan too! We’re going to distract the hardware store with the speakers, long enough and slip out!” he was now grinning from ear to ear. “It’s perfect!”  
“Insane more like…” I said.  
“Why?” Luke asked.  
“Luke… something happened recently that makes me fear for my own life… and another…” I looked down at my feet self consciously.  
“What…? What do you-“ he now looked down at my stomach, that my hand had now mindlessly began to rub. Luke’s eyes grew as he stared back at me. His jaw dropped and he backed up to the nearest wall, placing a hand on his forehead slowly, “You’re… Oh my god..” he looked back at me again, trying to calm himself. “Does… Nick know?” Luke asked.  
“No… not yet. I need to tell him as soon as I can though… I just found out this morning actually.” I confessed finally.  
“When did this happen?” Luke asked.  
“… a few days ago…” I said shyly.  
“Oh Jesus… that’s worse…” he scratched the back of his head.  
“Huh…? Why?” I asked him now startled.  
“Cause if Carver finds out that you guys had…. Y’know…. Here, then he’ll probably hurt Nick… or worse… you!” He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Look, if we don’t escape that baby will be in danger! Believe it or not… Carver is a heartless man and he won’t hesitate to take you down if he knows about this!” he warned me. “Look we’ll talk about this later… you get out of here before anyone realizes you are gone! Got it!?” Luke now pushed me towards the door, not even allowing me to speak. I stumbled out of the door and tried to casually walk towards the door to Howe’s but I was suddenly pulled back by a strong grip.  
“Where have you been?! What were you doing in there, huh?!” Troy turned me towards him and started barking at me. I thought quickly and uttered out, “I-I was using the bathroom! Is that a bad thing?!” I asked annoyed.  
Troy scoffed at me, “Bullcrap! You were up to no good in there! Who were you talking to huh? I heard you talking!”   
Before I could answer, Troy pushed my head down with one hand and pushed the comic book store door with the other. Before he could step inside, a familiar voice stopped him.  
“Hey! Leave her alone, man! She’s done nothin’ wrong! Didn’t you hear?” I now recognized the voice as Wyatt’s.   
“Wyatt?” I whispered.  
“Hear what?!” Troy barked annoyed.  
“She’s pregnant man… Carlos told me to watch after her!” Wyatt responded.  
“So what?!” Troy asked.  
“So… she was probably talking to herself in there. After all she has to announce it to the others!” Wyatt said calmly.  
Troy was now silent, but finally let me go, “Fine! Whatever! Just stop acting suspicious!” he said angrily. He marched away and left Wyatt and myself there.   
“Thanks…” I said rubbing the back of my neck.  
“No problem… I hate that guy.” Wyatt smiled at me.  
“How did you know… that I was pregnant?” I asked him.  
“One. You dropped this on your way out.” Wyatt handed me the pamphlet that Carlos gave me. “Two. You guys need to be alone for 20 minutes each day? Yeah, I know what’s going on.” Wyatt smirked. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone. About either things…” he finished.  
“Uh… that’s embarrassing…” I said blushing now.   
“Hey man… it’s not my place. Just… don’t let Carver know about this, okay?” Wyatt smirked at me.   
“Sure…” I said slowly.  
“Hey, you better go, you gotta announce this to Nick right?” he said patting my head, “You don’t want to keep him waiting right?” Wyatt now opened the door for me.  
“Thanks Wyatt!” I said running inside, flashing a smile at him. I ran past every other guard to the prison area, and walked inside. Everyone but Kenny, Mike and Clementine were there. I knew I couldn’t tell everyone the news just yet, so I hid the pamphlet in my pocket.   
“Hey, you’re back!” Nick suddenly stood up.  
“Yeah, I am. What’s going on?” I asked curiously.  
“Have you heard from Luke?” Nick now asked me.  
“Huh? Yeah… let me guess he spoke to you guys too huh?” I asked.  
“Yeah, basically.” Nick folded his arms. “He pretty much told us the details of what he wants us to do.”   
“Oh… Good…” I said slowly.   
Nick looked at me confused, “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.  
“I have something to tell you…” I whispered cautiously.  
Before Nick could ask me what it was I wanted to say, the door to the prison opened up, my heart sank when I saw who’s face I was first greeted with, it was Luke, with Carver behind him his hands on his wrists. All of Carver’s guards were behind them, guns aimed at all of us as Carver shoved Luke down to the ground.   
“What’s this all about?” Mike asked Carver.  
“We found your little savior outside of the comic book store… I believe you were spotted outside with him… weren’t you?” Carver asked pointing to me aggressively.   
“I-I…” I scanned the guards at Vince, Wyatt and Russel, all of their eyes meeting mine.   
“I was just…” I looked down at the ground nervously, Carver stepping closer to me.   
“Did you… or didn’t you?” he asked again.  
“Yes. I’m sorry.” I said quickly.  
“You were planning on escaping weren’t you?” he asked bringing my eyes up to meet his.  
“No. I swear. I just… encountered him!” I confessed.  
“Don’t lie to me girl! Liars get punished!”Carver raised his arm at me, about to slap me but Luke called out, “Wait! She’s not lying! She’s telling the truth! I promise you!”   
“Why should I trust you?” Carver asked him. “After all, you are the one who told all of the people here that you could trust them! And look what happened! Pete and Betty are dead! Your best friend’s family is dead! Are you happy with yourself Luke!”  
Nick bit his lip and tried to get out his emotions but I barked at him, “That’s not fair! What happened was no one’s fault!”  
“Well who was the one who lead your friends out eh? It wasn’t walkers… it was Luke. Your savior, your little hero!” he mockingly laughed, “In case you haven’t noticed sweetheart, it’s because of Luke that you’re in this mess right now.”   
“More like a man who couldn’t let go of his ego for five seconds.” I muttered under my breath.  
“What was that girl…?” Carver now put down Luke, who looked like he was beaten up but Carver. He now grabbed my face with his massive hand and forced my head to focus on his eyes, “You’re not speaking up! What did you say?!” I couldn’t see Russel, Wyatt or Vince, but I imagined their reactions were not pleasant.   
“What’s going on here!?” I heard Kenny’s voice behind me ask.   
That was when Kenny, Mike and Clementine finally got back. Carver released me and smirked at them, “Hmph… you’re just in time, I found your friend Luke here… snooping around. What did I find?” he held out a walkie-talkie in his hand, a sinking feeling hit the pit of my stomach. It was the walkie-talkie that Clem had found a couple of nights before. “So… we have two missing, and I have the one… who has the other one?” he asked with a slight growl. “I’m giving you to the count of three.”  
“One” he started.  
Everyone’s eyes darted around the room, a sudden panic rushed into our minds under the realization that we were going to be discovered. I wanted to speak out, say that I had it, but Carlos’ eyes seemed to have begged me not to as if he could read my mind.  
“Two…” he continued  
No one spoke, we all were frozen in silence. No one wanted to speak up. Clementine stood in front of me, and I felt horror as I saw the walkie-talkie in her pocket. I could see Clementine’s little body try to move forward, but Kenny suddenly pulled the walkie-talkie from her coat, his voice somewhat chipper when he called out. “I got it right here!” he then chuckled like he had just accidently dropped some food on the ground, “I’m sorry about that.” Was all that he said as he dropped the walkie talkie in Carver’s hand. Carver finished his count down by hissing out the word, “Three…”   
Kenny’s eyes shot open, and then gave an icy stare towards Carver, he snorted, “Heh…” I couldn’t hear the last bit, but as soon as he uttered it, there was a crack, and then Kenny was on the ground. Now in Carver’s hand was the walkie talkie that Kenny returned. His hand viciously pounded into Kenny’s head, beating him to a pulp, not letting up as Kenny couldn’t even fight back. My instincts kicked in, my body shooting towards him, “Kenny!!” I cried out panicked, moving as fast as I could, but something pulled me back, a hand, I jerked my head back to Wyatt, who’s usually mellow face painted a worried expression. He shook his head and murmured, “You’re pregnant.” He mouthed the words.   
“I don’t care!” I dropped my arm from his grip and continued on my pursuit, but this time Russel and Vince had grabbed me, “Let me go!! Please! I need to help him! Please!!” I cried, my tears now pouring out of me, “I can’t lose him again! Please!!” Now this time I felt arms wrap around my stomach, I jerked back and saw Nick burying his face in my neck.  
“No… Jessica, please. Don’t do this!” he said almost pleading, a sense of hopelessness crossed his lips.   
“Nick… please… he’s important to me.” I felt my knees grow weak.   
“More important than me?” Nick now asked me.   
“No! Of course not! I can’t… I can’t lose him again, Nick… I just can’t!” I squeaked out. It was at this point, that Clementine rushed to aid Kenny, not before getting hit in the face by the end of Troy’s gun. His sadistic smirk plastered all over his face. I felt my blood boil at his disgusting grin, “You… I will kill you! Do you hear me?! I will kill you!!” My tears came full force, my vision blurred, and I could feel my body getting weaker by the second. Just then, Carver released Kenny, his body limply greeting the ground.   
Carver then approached me and lifted up my chin, “What did you say to my guard…?” his raspy voice asked.  
“I’ll kill him…” I glared back at him, not offering to surrender just yet. With my last statement, Carver raised his arm, the walkie talkie in hand, and struck my face as hard as he could muster, my body succumbed to the blow and I fell to my knees. The men who held me up let go briefly, but only to check on my condition. Shockwaves were sent to my cheek, my hand desperately held onto my head, hoping to cease the endless pounding that vibrated against my skull. In my brief consciousness I looked up at Carver who hovered over me, his arm raised again to strike, but before he could a figure stood in his way. As my head swayed back and forth it took all the effort in my body to keep myself conscious. But it was no use, Carver had punched he day lights out of me, in my last bit of effort, I could hear Wyatt’s familiar voice shout out, “…pregnant!” those words were the last I heard before darkness greeted my mind.   
By the time I woke up… I could hear the sounds of crackling, and voices speaking. My body struggled to sit up right, and my mind really struggled to catch up with what was going on. My eyes slowly opened, blurred, but still able to see out of them, which made me happy in knowing I wasn’t hit as hard as I thought I would be. I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, from the bed that Nick and I share. As my feet landed on the ground, I heard Nick’s voice call out excitedly, “Jessica!” He now grabbed onto me and hugged me close to him, “Oh thank God!” he released me from his grip and held onto my shoulders, “Carlos said you’ll be alright… and he said the damage won’t harm our baby.”   
“Wha…?” I said groggily.  
“Let her catch up Nick.” I heard Russel say from the side.  
“Russel?...” I looked to the side and saw Russel in the corner. My eyes focused on Vince who was right next to him, “Vince…?”   
“I’m here too man.” Wyatt waved at me. All of them were in the jail with us, an overwhelming sense of guilt rised in my belly as I looked at all three of them, “I’m sorry… for all that’s happened.”   
“Don’t be. You did nothing wrong.” Vince smiled.  
“But you’re all here.” I said sadly.  
“No offense, but we decided to be here.” Russel folded his arms.   
“Also didn’t help that he found out about the blankets. He didn’t find the journal though, so that’s good.” Vince smiled at me again.  
“Now we’re reduced to common prisoners again, great.” Rebecca sighed.  
“At this rate, we never would have gotten on his good side.” Nick said. He wrapped his arms around me and held me against him. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.” He focused on me.  
“I suppose it could have been worse.” I said. I now looked around the area and noticed that Kenny wasn’t among the group, “Where’s Kenny?” I asked curiously.  
Silence. All that greeted me was utter silence.   
“He’s okay… isn’t he?” I asked.  
Carlos was hunched over the side, his body now stood up and his face turned towards me. “I’m afraid…” He let out a small sigh, “That… his eye was ruptured, he took a bad beating out there… it’ll be a while before he can even stand… I’m sorry.” Carlos sadly shook his head.  
“What…? But…” again my tears greeted my cheeks, I wiped them away desperately trying to hide my pain. “No… no that’s not… no!” I screeched, “Kenny...”  
Nick hugged me as I sobbed, his strong arms comforting me. “It’s alright… everything will be okay.”  
“Nick… I’m so scared…” I whispered.  
“I know…” he whispered back.  
“What happened when I was out…” I looked up at Nick, his eyes looking down on me sadly, “You were knocked out pretty hard… but Wyatt saved you.”   
“What? Wyatt…?” I turned towards the mellow man who gave me a little smile, “Yeah… well… I couldn’t really imagine Carver doing the same thing to you. It really blew my mind that he was like that with Kenny.”   
“What did you say to Carver?” I now questioned him.  
“You didn’t hear that?” Russel asked.  
“No… I was knocked out cold a few seconds after Wyatt stood in front of him. I couldn’t really hear past the ringing in my head.” I said.  
“The short end of it, Wyatt announced what you probably should have told us all along.” Luke looked up at me.  
“Oh… that.” I bit my nail.   
“Before she moves on with that, we should tell her what’s going on…” Nick said.  
“What? What’s going on?” I asked.  
Luke was hesitant, but he finally spoke up, “Bonnie has agreed to help us… escape this place.”   
“What?” my eyes shot open at Luke’s doubtful face, “You mean… we have a chance to get out of here?” I asked.  
“It’s tricky though… we’re not in any position to do it.” Luke interrupted my hopeful feeling.   
“What do you mean?” I asked almost annoyed now.  
“What do you mean, ‘What do I mean?’?! Did you not see what just happened?! Sarita is in no shape to move, Kenny is in a real bad way and I’m a mess, on top of you being pregnant, that doesn’t help things!” Luke said harshly.  
“Excuse me?!” Rebecca shot glares Luke’s way.  
“You know what I mean.” Luke snapped.  
“No Luke… I don’t think my pregnancy should be a determining factor on this case!” I folded my arms.  
“Look things are different! Your baby and Rebecca’s baby are top priority!”he responded.  
“Have you forgotten the main reason he chased us down? Rebecca’s baby is in danger by that psycho, and he has no sympathy for me. He may have stopped once, but who’s to say he won’t do the same thing to me that he did to Kenny. Let’s face it, I’m an easy target, especially now more than ever. If we stay here… we’re doomed.”   
Nick shook his head, “I have to side with Luke on this one… we can’t go right now.”   
“What? But… Nick! You know what that psychopath is capable of! You think we should stay here and have him risk our baby?” I asked annoyed.  
“About that…” Nick scratched the back of his head.  
“What…?” my mouth became dry as I watched his face become doubtful.  
“Are you sure you want… to keep the baby right now?” Nick asked.  
“What…? What do you mean am I sure…? Of course I’m sure Nick! My god, why is this even a discussion?!” I felt my rage boil under my skin as I kicked a nearby bag of fertilizer. “This is my choice Nick!”  
“Well it’s my choice too! That’s my child! I don’t really feel comfortable with the idea of my kid in this world!” Nick snapped.  
“Well I would be willing to risk it!” I folded my arms.  
“Why?!” he snapped again.  
“Because I want to bring a bit of optimism in this world! Maybe a bit of happiness! I want OUR child to live a happy life… but I want this child!”  
“But… this world is so twisted! How will a kid survive all of this!?”   
“Look at Clementine, Becca and Sarah. All kids! If they can do it, then surely our kid can too. If we can make it out of here, then we at least will have one less problem on our back!”   
“What are you saying exactly?” Luke asked.  
“I want to escape. That’s that.” I put my foot down finally.  
“You do realize we might have to leave some people behind.” Luke responded.  
“No… you’re not suggesting. Luke we-“  
“I’m just saying… Kenny might have to stay here.” Luke interrupted me.  
“No! I refuse to leave Kenny behind!” I snapped.  
Clementine spoke up, “Kenny is leaving with us! We’re not leaving him behind!”  
“Well good…” a weak voice piped up. Our eyes shot up all at once at the figure. There stood Kenny, his eye covered in a bandage, but his confident smile was the only thing that didn’t look broken.   
“Kenny!” Sarita latched onto Kenny, then Clementine hugged him tight.   
“Oh thank God!” I cried out hugging him as well.   
“We’re going to get out of here… and that’s final.” Kenny smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realize the pregnancy thing isn't accurate. I do apologize. But I thought this would move things along faster. :)


End file.
